


No Strings Attached

by snowstormjonerys



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), bethyl - Fandom
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Anal Fingering, Anal Play, Bethyl Smut Week, Dirty Talk, Doggy Style, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Face-Sitting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Oral Sex, Sexual Roleplay, Sexy Times, Smut, bethyl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-02-22 06:44:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 49,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2498423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowstormjonerys/pseuds/snowstormjonerys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth and Daryl were friends, the kind of friends that had each other's back no matter what. Beth was a busy med student and didn't have time to play games. Daryl was sick of crash and burn relationships. They come to an agreement. Find out what happens when the line between friendship and love is crossed. This is AU and they may be slightly OOC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I'd Lie by Taylor Swift

_I don't think that passenger seat_  
Has ever looked this good to me  
He tells me about his night  
And I count the colors in his eyes  
He'll never fall in love he swears  
As he runs his fingers through his hair  
I'm laughing 'cause I hope he's wrong  
And I don't think it ever crossed his mind  
He tells a joke, I fake a smile  
But I know all his favorite songs  
And... 

_I could tell you his favorite color's green_  
He loves to argue, born on the seventeenth  
His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes  
And if you asked me if I love him,  
I'd lie   


Beth opened the door, letting it swing all the way open as Daryl came through carrying a pizza just like he did every Friday night. This was their longstanding date for about as long as Beth could remember. They had been friends for ages. That's not to say they didn't have their ups and downs like any other friendship, like the two months they hadn't talked when Daryl had been dating Jenna, Maggie's friend from high school. Maggie was two years older than Beth and Daryl was five years older than Maggie. Daryl and Jenna dating in high school had been quite the scandal and Beth had been so disappointed in him for dating such a young girl. Jenna was 17 and anything but a virgin. She had hated Jenna with a passion ever since Maggie had brought her home from school and Jenna teased Beth about being so flat-chested. She was a generous B-cup now, but the memory was still a sharp barb in her ego.

"Got the pizza, Greene, what movie did you find?" Daryl said as he placed the pizza on the coffee table between the television and the sofa.

Beth tried to pull the tab of the box up, attempting to snag a piece of pepperoni. She had skipped lunch being so busy with her study group and breakfast had been a rushed affair of a breakfast bar and a Diet Coke. To say she was hungry would be a gross understatement.

Daryl tapped her hand lightly with two fingers. "Hands off Greene. Rules are rules."

Beth rolled her eyes at him. "Fine. But hurry up. I'm starvin'" she grumbled as she went to grab the moonshine and two shot glasses from under the sink.

"You forgot to eat again didn't ya?" Daryl said. He hated when she skipped meals. She was too damn skinny as it was.

"Yeah," Beth said as she walked back in the room, setting the moonshine and glasses on the table in front of the pizza. "Why? They had a tradition. One shot of moonshine and one fun fact that they didn't think the other would know about each other. They did that first and then they'd get their pizza and start the movie.

Beth had started it as a way of them getting their friendship started again after he had broken it off with Jenna. They had instituted Friday Night Friend night and ever since then they'd only missed it twice. Once when Daryl's old man had died and the other when Beth had the flu although it had ended up kind of being a friend night that night anyway since he had come over to take care of her.

"Ya get real crabby when you're hungry." He smirked at her as he sat down to the left of her just as he always did.

"I do not," She knew even as she denied it that he was telling the truth. She giggled a little then as she poured their shots.

Daryl waited for Beth to sit down before picking up his shot glass. Once she was seated and comfortable, after wiggling her rear all over the sofa until she found that one spot she liked, one leg tucked up under her body and the other knee drawn up to her chest, she reached over and grabbed her glass as he did his.

"Whose turn?" Beth asked him. They took turns going first and she couldn't remember for the life of her whose turn it was this time.

"Yours I think," Daryl replied. He thought about what Merle might think of him and Beth's confession game. He figured he'd probably laugh and call him a pussy.

Beth cleared her throat and held her shot glass out from her a little ways, a tiny smile playing across her features. She had been thinking about this one for days. She knew it was something that Daryl didn't know anything about and they had been one-upping each other every week. "I confess." She looked at him and she could barely keep the grin off her face and she knew without looking in a mirror that the corners of her eyes were crinkling up. "I kissed a girl." She giggled and turned her shot glass up, keeping eye contact with him, not wanting to miss his reaction. Predictably, his jaw dropped open and he was speechless for a full minute.

"Who?" The word was out of Daryl's mouth before he could even register thinking it. So sweet little innocent Beth Greene had dabbled in the fairer sex.

Beth giggled and threw his words back at him. "Nuh-uh. Rules are rule, Dixon." She smirked at him and his eyes flashed at her as he lifted his glass.

He hated when she was right, which was most of the time but he still hated being beaten at his own game. "Fine, but you can bet I'm gonna get it out of you later." Daryl hadn't been able to resist. They made the confession but they weren't allowed to talk about it until after the movie. It was the tradition after all and it was their own personal brand of torture. Some might think it was a sad way to spend a Friday night but to Daryl, it was everything. Sometimes he didn't know what he would do without her. She'd been there for him for about as long as he could remember. She'd helped him get over Jenna and then after her, Tiffany. After Tiffany, he'd sworn off dating, vowing that it was not worth the endless headache.

He didn't get girls, never had, but Beth was hardly like any of the other girls he had known in his lifetime. She was Beth. Daryl put his glass out in front of him and took a deep breath. He'd been trying to get the nerve up to tell her this one for a while but hadn't done it because it was too damn embarrassing. But he took a deep breath and let the words come tumbling out, half hoping she couldn't hear him. "I confess, I sang karaoke. Drunk." He tossed the shot of moonshine back and suddenly wished for another, but it wasn't part of the game. Beth didn't ever drink much on account of her Daddy being an alcoholic. Daryl didn't either but his father's booze-laden violence was way worse than Hershel's self-imposed exile when he drank.

Beth spit her Diet Coke everywhere. "You? Sang karaoke?" her voice got higher pitched at the end just before she erupted into a fit of giggles. Beth tried to imagine Daryl singing and she got one image in her mind but the picture of him being drunk and singing in front of strangers was more than her ribs could take.

She was dying to ask but she had just spouted the rules to him so she brought one finger up making a zipping motion with her finger across her lips. She'd ask him later after the movie was over. He smirked at her again. "So the movie Greene?" He picked up the remote and pushed play, then reached over and opened the pizza box. It was greasy pepperoni but it was just what she needed after a long week of hitting the books. She was a second year medical student and she knew it was going to be a tough few years when she started but she hadn't bargained for the incessant sleepless nights and the cut into her already non-existent social life.

Beth looked at him blankly for a moment as she reached for a slice of pizza. "Some chick flick, I don't remember." She heard him groan out loud and she turned to look at him. "Oh come on, you know I have no hope of having a love life. Let me live through fake people on my T.V. screen." She looked at him, imploring him with her eyes, even batting her insanely long lashes for effect. She picked up the DVD box on the sofa from behind her. "It's supposed to be good. 27 Dresses."

Daryl looked at her and groaned again. "Come on Greene, not the puppy eyes. I'm immune remember?" He said and she continued to bat her eyelashes at him. He sighed, finally relenting. There was no use, he knew this. She was persuasive and very good at getting her way. He'd be better off giving in than try and argue with her. "Fine. But don't expect me to like it. In fact, I'll probably be makin' fun of it." He grumbled and she giggled again. What could he say? He had a weak spot where Beth was concerned. She had a rough time of it lately with all the douchebags she had been dating. If letting her watch this movie would keep her from one more crash and burn relationship in a revolving door of never-ending assholes, then he was all for it. He was tired of seeing her get her heart broken again and again.

Beth put down her pizza and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him loudly and sloppily on the cheek, then pulled back looking at him saucily. "Thank you, Mr. Dixon." She said, mildly teasing him. He hated it when she called him that. It stemmed from the first time they had ever drank moonshine together. He had told her she was being a spoiled brat insisting that he give her more since she was nursing yet another broken heart. She had called him an asshole and to stop trying to be her chaperone. "I'm 17 years old and I can take care of myself, Mr. Dixon." Ever since then, when she really wanted to get under his skin, all she had to do was utter those words with just the right amount of sarcasm dripping from them.

He rolled his eyes and waved a hand at the screen. "Yeah, yeah, let's just play the damn thing." He grumbled grabbing another slice of pizza as the movie began playing.

Beth settled herself back on the sofa pouring just one more shot glass full of moonshine for them both. She tossed hers back and Daryl drank his a few seconds later. They sat in silence, Beth interjecting comments every now and then and Daryl going along with her.

The movie reached a rather steamy scene where the couple were going at it in a car. Daryl always hated watching scenes like this because there were grossly unrealistic. Like who really did it in a car anymore. He glanced over at Beth, smirking at her.

"I know you hate it, but this is the closest to sex I will likely get in the next year." Beth sighed and sat back losing total interest in the movie.

Daryl reached over for the remote and clicked the pause button. "Spill it Greene." He looked at her pointedly. She had been all sighs and exasperated groans for the last five minutes. This was precisely why he didn't like watching movies like this.

Beth pulled both her knees into her chest. "It's just so unfair. I gave my all to that relationship and he just up and decides he wants to see other people." Beth sighed. "I'm over him. Honestly, I just miss the sex. It's been 8 months, Daryl. 8 months!" She threw the head against the back of the sofa, clearly frustrated.

Daryl groaned inwardly. He guessed he'd never get used to talking about shit like this with her but this was what their friendship was. They told each other everything, even stuff like this. "What about that other guy? Thought you were gonna just see him once in a while." That was the most he was willing to say. She had been planning on keeping him around just for the sex.

Beth rolled her eyes and groaned. "Don't remind me. Andrew was great. But he wanted to 'take things slow and see where our relationship was headed'. Like I really have time for that. How long has it been for you? Gina?" Gina had been his last girlfriend but they had broken up over a year ago. She had wanted way more than what Daryl was capable of giving. Their relationship had been volatile at best. She hated to think that Daryl had gone without sex for over a year. There was no way she was going to make it much longer and definitely not a year.

Daryl nodded his head. "Yeah, it was."

"Ugh how are you even living? I need an outlet and I don't think I'd be able to wait as long as you have. You're a damn saint, Dixon." She remarked looking at him.

Daryl snorted derisively. "Ain't no saint. It's just too much fuckin' trouble. Always wantin' something more." They always did too. They wanted more. As he had gotten older, it had just gotten worse. Girls wanting to dig deeper, get to know him, change him, but he had sidestepped them all. For him, there was just Beth. She was the only one who got him, didn't try to change him. And for whatever reason, he pretty much told her everything. He didn't feel the need to hold back around her.

"Why haven't we ever dated, Dixon?" Daryl rolled his eyes again. This was a frequent topic of conversation. He didn't bother answering. She sat up suddenly. "I got it." She looked at him, her face lighting up with that smile that could brighten any dark spot in the world. It often brightened his but he wasn't about to tell her that, knowing she'd take full advantage of the admission not in a bad way, but just in the way that Beth Greene thought she knew everything there was to know about stuff. It drove him crazy at the same time it endeared him to her. He looked at her sideways as she sat up even straighter and turning herself on the sofa to face him. He turned slightly so he was facing her too, watching her face as whatever idea it was danced around in that crazy head of hers.

"We've known each other a long time right?" Beth asked him.

"Well, yeah sure." Daryl responded warily and eyeing her carefully.

"And you don't want a relationship because it's too complicated?" Daryl wasn't sure he followed but he nodded in agreement.

"Then let's be friends with benefits. It's perfect." She said, looking at him like she had just discovered the cure for cancer.

Daryl nearly spit his soda all over the place. "You mean like fuck buddies?" He looked at her sharply, searching her eyes. Oh yeah, she was serious alright. She had that look in her eyes as she nodded resolutely at him. He started shaking his head. "No way, Greene. What the fuck is wrong with you? We can't do that."

"Why not?" Beth asked, holding her hands out waiting for him to argue with her.

For the life of him, he couldn't think of one reason except the most obvious. "We're friends." He shook his head again, dismissing the idea. "You must have lost your mind."

"Nope for the first time, I feel perfectly sane. Why haven't we thought of this before. We are friends. All the more reason. Just a simple arrangement. It's perfect, we both know what we want. Know that the other doesn't want anything more than just sex." She beamed at him again.

"What if the other starts to want somethin' more?" He knew it wouldn't be him, but the last thing he would want to do is hurt her. He couldn't even believe he was entertaining the thought of this ridiculous arrangement he was suggesting. "No Greene, it would just be weird. We ain't even ever kissed." Daryl said, shaking his head again.

Beth grinned. "Let's start there then." She was so enthusiastic and convincing, he didn't know why he bothered. She was going to get her way one way or another. Maybe she wouldn't like kissing him and they could laugh at this and forget about the whole thing.

"Fine." He resigned himself to his fate, putting his beer can down.

"You'll do it?" She was practically giddy, bouncing on the seat as she readjusted herself on the sofa so she faced him more fully.

"I'll kiss you. If it's weird, then no deal. Got it?" He looked at her, letting his eyes bore into hers.

Beth looked at him, his eyes sinking into hers, seeing into her soul like he usually did. "Deal." She said as he turned to face her. She was suddenly fiercely glad for the second shot of moonshine. Liquid courage was just what she needed. She was getting ready to kiss her best friend.

Beth figured the only way to do this was to just go for it. Kind of like ripping off a Band-aid except hopefully this wouldn't be quite as painful. Hopefully it was good. She had never kissed him before but in looking at his lips, she was willing to bet he was good at it. The thought of kissing him, really kissing him, had butterflies fluttering in her stomach all the sudden. Before she could lose her nerve, she leaned forward and closed her eyes, her lips meeting his. They were soft and pliant and slightly cool from the soda he had just drank. At first when their lips met, just barely, a hint of a kiss and then Beth tentatively placed her hand behind his neck and threaded her fingers lightly into the hair at the back of his head as she darted her tongue out just slightly sliding the tip along his lower lip. She could swear she heard him sigh as he opened his mouth finally and accepted her tongue into his mouth, his tongue now warring with hers for control. She leaned closer into him and he brought his hands up beside her face, cupping one cheek in each hand as if to hold her still so his tongue could properly plunder her mouth.

Finally Beth broke off the kiss, leaning her forehead against his. "Well that was- good," she finished, holding her hand up to her lips and staring at him, her baby blues having gone a little wide in surprise. "Great actually," she admitted, looking at him for a second that felt like a thousand.

Kissing Beth was nothing like he expected it to be. He had expected it to be fumbling, awkward, and fleeting. Just a brief chaste kiss and this whole mess could be forgotten and swept away. He hadn't expected this feeling deep within. He hadn't expected it would turn him on like it was. And he sure as hell hadn't expected that he would want to do it again, but as he looked at her trying to figure out what the hell had just happened, it's exactly what he did. And the second time was way better than the first. Oh yeah, he was in deep shit now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, they go for it.

Casual Sex – by My Darkest Days

We don't have to go on dates, you don't have to like my friends  
I won't get in your face when you're making other plans  
If you're tired of the taste, you can try another blend  
My heart will never break, I'm just here to break a sweat

That's why she's cool with it, she's down with it  
There's nothing wrong with it, cause it's easier this way  
She's so cool with it, she's down with it  
There's nothing wrong with it, don't want it any other way!

Daryl had heard people talk about kissing before and it was great and all but it had never done much for him. Not like it was with Beth right now. His brain kept fighting with the rest of his body and it nearly drove him insane. He moved one hand to the back of her head, gripping her hair lightly in his fist making certain that she wasn't going anywhere. He felt himself getting harder the more his tongue explored every inch of her mouth. He was intoxicated on her taste and it was making him mindless with want.

He moved his other hand from where his palm was cupping her face and slid it down over her shoulder, sliding it further down her arm, and snaked it over to her waist, surprised to find that he was gripping bare skin. Her skin was so soft and smooth and as he gripped her waist a little tighter, he imagined what it might feel to have her completely naked under him. That thought alone made him moan into her mouth.

Beth could barely believe that it was her best friend who was kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Beth had been kissed before. She had heard kisses described as making you see fireworks and heel-popping kisses like in the movies but the way Daryl Dixon was kissing her right now could only be described as toe-curling. Because that's exactly what was happening and she had an intense longing to feel him closer. She heard him moan and her answer was a sigh. She didn't even know how long it was that they kissed before they finally broke apart for the second time, their chests heaving and heavy pants of them trying to catch their breath the only sound in the room.

"So do we talk about this or do we just take a vote. Because I vote yes." It felt like a freaking eternity before Daryl finally responded. Her adrenaline was surging and she felt like every part of her body had just been lit on fire.

"Hell yes." He said and Beth didn't waste any more time on small talk. She got up on her knees on the sofa and pressed her lips back to his. Daryl was just as eager as she was, putting his hands back up to cup her face and she smirked as he quickly darted his tongue back out to coax her lips open. Kissing him was dizzying and exhilarating as they continued kissing, lips bruising, tongues tangling, Beth moved her hands from the back of his head to the front of his shirt, deftly unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it from his shoulders. At the same time, his hands moved to the hem of her shirt and she broke off the kiss just long enough to rip it off her body and toss it to the side, moving her lips straight back to his. The angle they were at on the sofa was making it impossible though to really get comfortable and give herself over to everything. She pulled back off of him suddenly and looked into his eyes, taking note of his dilated pupils and his sultry gaze, and fueled her passion knowing that kissing her had done that to him.

"Let's go back to my bedroom. We don't have enough room here." She said softly, not wanting to ruin the mood. He nodded wordlessly and she stood up at the same time he did and she grabbed his hand, wanting to make absolutely sure that he really did follow her and he didn't lose his nerve. At the point she was at right now, she might actually scream if he changed his mind. Now that she was insanely turned on, she was wildly curious as to how Daryl moved, how he fucked actually and that fueled her passion even further making her pull him along faster and as soon as they reached the bed, she whirled around to face him.

Daryl followed her back to her room, being pulled along by more than just her hand leading him there. Quite simply, he wanted her. Wanted to bury himself inside her and as shocking as it seemed, he could hardly wait. As soon as they reached the bedside his eyes were narrowed in on her lips and she met his in fervor.

He moved his hands to her arms, running them slowly lower and skating over to her hips, gripping both sides of her waist, her skin so smooth beneath his. He then reached around to her bra clasp and pulled the straps off her arms. He felt her reaching between them to his pants, undoing his belt and then unbuttoning and then unzipping his pants, letting them fall to the floor. She pushed him gently back on the bed and laid her body on top of him continuing to kiss him, her teeth barely nipping at his bottom lip.

He gasped as she bit his lip, feeling his painfully hard cock twitching inside his boxers and loving the feeling of pressure on him where she was positioned on top of him, her breasts pressing into his chest and he could tell without looking that her nipples were already hard. The thought of this made him break the kiss to look at her, wanting to see the physical evidence of her desire. She pulled back at the same time, their eyes really meeting for the first time. The first thing he noticed was how heavy her eyelids appeared and then right after that the fact that her eyes were nothing but pools of black with thin rings of blue. Her lips were swollen and all he wanted to do right now was kiss her again, but he wanted to look at her first so he turned them so they were sideways facing each other as he looked at her body taking in every curve, every nuance.

She was exquisite, the soft hollow at her neck that begged to be kissed, perfect round breasts with light rose-colored nipples budded up just for him. His eyes slipped lower at the smooth expanse of her kissable belly, skimming down over her pale long legs. Legs that he longed to have wrapped around him. He looked back up to her face, taking in her expression. This was Beth. Beth Greene. He felt like his dick might need a reminder but it seemed it didn't matter. He reached out a hand and ran his fingers up her arm as he traced lazy lines and circles, he leaned forward, capturing her lips with his.

Beth watched Daryl as he gazed at her and she let him look at her and as she watched his expression, she could tell that he liked what he saw. She closed her eyes when his lips met hers again and she moved her hands up between them splaying her fingers over his chest, loving the hardness there, so different from her.

As he continued kissing her, she traced her fingers over to his nipples, just barely raking her nails over them. She was desperately hoping he would take the hint and do the same for her nipples but so far all he had done was carefully remove her clothes and run his fingers up her back and over her arms. She wanted more and it was driving her mad.

Once Daryl had reminded himself that it was Beth that he was doing this with, it sobered him a bit. He felt like he needed to slow down in case she wanted to change her mind. He felt like he was a kid again because all he wanted to do was to just get there already but out of respect for her and their friendship, he continued tracing patterns up and down her arms, content for the moment to just kiss her.

He was holding back like he was afraid she was made of glass and she was about out of her mind with desire. Finally, deeming it a certainty that he wasn't going to make the first move, she did it for him. She moved her hand up to where he was rubbing her skin until gooseflesh appeared, grasping his wrist and holding his hand out, placing it firmly on her left breast, hearing a resounding moan from him in the process. He kneaded her breast gently and as Beth looked at him and he looked at her, she knew that was it for her.

It only took a minute for his brain to catch up and react to Beth placing his hand on her breast, so wantonly. So eager for him to touch her, he didn't waste any time as he bent her backwards over one arm, holding her slightly off the bed, her hair trailing down to the covers as he brought his lips to her other nipple, hearing her moan loudly. He teased her nipple, swirling his tongue around it and nipping lightly with his teeth. If he hadn't had a hand behind her she would have fallen back to the bed as she arched her back so sharply thrusting her nipple further into his mouth. He pulled away from her breast then and moved his lips to the other, giving it the same treatment and Beth arched her back again, gasping and reaching out to grip his head, fingers trailing through his hair.

Beth reached down to the waistband of his boxers and Daryl moved his hands down to help her out. Once his underwear was gone, her hands moved to the waistband of her panties and he stilled her hands. For one wild second, she was afraid he was backing out. But he pulled back and looked at her and she understood then that he wanted to remove them himself. He hooked a thumb on each side of the elastic and slid them down her hips, sitting up to drag them over her long lithe thighs to her ankles and she kicked them off the rest of the way. He looked down at her at the the place he longed most to explore and saw that she was shaved and though he thought it impossible, his cock got even harder. He could see the top of her lips were glistening, wet, ready for him.

As Beth slid his boxers all the way off his hips, his cock sprung free and Beth's eyes narrowed on the sheer size of him. Her pussy ached to have him fill her and she reached out to grasp him firmly, pumping her hand up and down over the length of him, hearing him gasp.

"Fuck, Beth!" The expletive was out before he could stop it but it seemed to incite her further as she moved her hand faster and faster. He didn't waste any time in moving his fingers over her skin, his fingertips ghosting the surface of her abdomen, just barely touching her, wanting it to shock her senses. As he slid one finger into her wet folds she instinctively cocked one leg up at the same time she moaned. He slipped a finger inside her pussy and he himself groaned at how tight she was. He inserted another finger and he nearly came with the thought of how she was going to feel wrapped firmly around his cock.

Beth moved her hips off the bed with each thrust of Daryl's fingers inside her pussy and it was no longer enough. She sat up abruptly and reached over to her nightstand, dragging out the box of condoms, the ones for just in case. She fumbled with the unopened box and finally ripped it open, grabbing one of the foil packets, pulling it out.

She looked at him, meeting his eyes as she rolled the condom over his rock-hard length all the way to the base, hearing the hiss that came out of his mouth. It was now or never time, she thought. He moved his hands down to her arms and pulled her on top of him as she sat astride him, her legs gripping his hips. He reached down grasping his cock as Beth positioned herself over him and as she impaled herself over his engorged member they both moaned loudly.

The sudden contact of his hard cock against her most sensitive flesh, pushing himself into her pussy even as she sunk her hips in one downward motion had her nearly writhing on top of him. She stopped as he met the wall of her cervix, wiggling her hips slightly, seating him completely inside her before she began to move her hips again, pumping herself up and down on top of him. She looked at him and his mouth was parted and as he looked at her, he dropped his head back to the pillow and moaned.

Daryl had never felt anything more pleasurable than Beth riding his cock like she'd been in a rodeo her whole life. She was so impossibly tight, her pussy wrapped tightly around his dick providing the most exquisite friction and it threatened to send him over that edge long before he was ready. He reached up to still her hips for a moment and she seemed to understand as she slowed her movements slightly and leaned down to kiss him plunging her tongue into his mouth.

Beth could tell by Daryl's frantic movements that he was going to come if she didn't slow down so she dropped the pace and lowered her lips to his. She continued that rhythm as long as she could and the angle she was now at was ideal for hitting her in all the right places and she seemed to reach the edge only to retreat a moment later. By the time this happened the fifth time, she was so frustrated she began to grind her hips down faster, hearing the slap of skin on every descent. She leaned down to his ear whispering, "Fuck me harder".

Daryl had been trying to hold off but she was driving him crazy. He never realized how passionate she was about sex. He knew she liked it because she talked about it a lot but until she started riding him, he didn't think he fully understood what a vixen she was in the bedroom. He kept trying to keep the pace light and slow, letting it build again but when she whispered those three dirty words right against his ear, something inside of him snapped awake and he had them flipped over in an instant. He reached down and grasped her legs, pushing them back towards her head and then seating himself right between her legs, he let her legs rest to his shoulders. He looked down at her then where her pussy was turned up perfectly, already fucked slightly pinker and as he lined his dick up with her dripping wet opening, he knew the next time he was going to want to taste her sweetness.

Beth gasped as Daryl flipped them over and threw her legs over his shoulders. She only had one last coherent thought just before he entered her: that Daryl had game. As soon as he was in her again, he set a punishing rhythm for them both, making good on her request. Fuck her harder. Oh he did. As he drove into her again and again, she grunted and gasped and she could almost feel it coming then. Almost as if on instinct, Daryl looked at her and reached between them where their bodies were joined, moving his thumb over her clit, rotating it slightly and applying pressure harder and harder until she felt the tightly wound coil inside her spring loose, the waves of pleasure spiraling down, sending chills and shocks through her all at the same time.

He looked down at her, her firm round breasts bouncing lightly each time he drove back into her. He reached down and found that bundle of nerves, pressing in as he thrust his cock in and out of her at a faster and faster pace and he felt the moment she came undone, her walls clenching around his dick. He he felt his own release coming then and he was helpless to tumble over that edge, feeling every muscle in his body rhythmically spasm, her orgasm effectively squeezing every last drop of cum from him.

As he finally came back to himself he moved off of her, simultaneously pulling out of her and he reached down and grasped the condom carefully and deposited it the wastebasket by the bed. He rolled over and looked at her, watching him, her chest heaving and her eyes meeting his.

"You are sneaky." She stated it with a grin playing on her features.

He smiled in response. "The fuck you talkin' bout Greene?" He wondered if her orgasm had taken all her brain cells away.

"You. Are. Great. In. Bed." She said, breaking it up for effect.

Daryl chuckled. "You ain't so bad yourself Greene." He couldn't seem to help the constant grin on his face, realizing that he felt more at ease than he had in a long time. Maybe this was a good idea she had here. He wasn't about to tell her that though. Her head was big enough as it was, he thought with a smirk.

"What's that look for?" She said and she realized suddenly that the smile had not left her face and they were still completely naked, like this was something that they did together every day.

Daryl quickly sidestepped her question. "Never mind that. You got some fessin' up to do." He looked at her pointedly and she looked at him blankly for a moment until finally finished his thought. "So, tell me about this girl you kissed."

Beth erupted into a fit of giggles. "I knew it. You are a pervert, Mr. Dixon." Beth took a deep breath before she launched into the story, thinking that this new arrangement wasn't just going to be fun. It was going to be simply delicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So?? What did you think?


	3. No Strings Attached

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So what now. Beth and Daryl have crossed that line, now they have to figure out what comes next.

_It was sophomore year at Mercer University and Beth had a new roommate. At first she was not sure of how she was going to like the girl. Her name was Lauren and where Beth was quiet and dedicated to her studies, Lauren was the opposite, always a thrill-seeker. Beth was intrigued by her mystique and gypsy ways. She was not afraid to do anything and the two fast became friends and went everywhere together. Where freshman year Beth could usually be found in the library, reading up on microbiology and doing term papers on the weekend, sophomore found her going to every single frat party and college social Lauren dragged her to. Tonight was the party at the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity house, the biggest party of the whole semester. It was close to Halloween and the fall air had just started to creep in at the end of the day._

_For the past week, a guy named Brian had been flirting with her and she flirted right back. He hadn't asked her out but when he invited her to the frat party, Beth knew she had to go. They spent all afternoon getting ready and finally it was time to go. They did their usual fashionably late entrance at Lauren's insistence and when they got there the party was in full swing. Beth was crestfallen when she walked in and Brian had his hands up some girl's skirt._

_So Beth had done the only sensible thing; for the first time she had gotten well and truly drunk. Before that she had just sipped on whatever drink was placed in her hand, never really caring much for the taste of alcohol especially since her Dad had such a history with alcoholism. It just never seemed like something she wanted to partake in. Until she saw her number one crush with his hands all over some other girl._

_Lauren had been so great that night. She had seen how upset Beth was and had dedicated the entire evening to making sure Beth had a good time. They danced, they sang, they teased boys that came and danced with them. Then the they did the thing that all girls do; the stereotypical cockblock on the dance floor which consisted of dancing with each other but never any guy that asked them to dance. They called it their fuck off dance. As they were out on the make-shift dance floor in the backyard of the frat house, they began to do a sexy little dance with each other, looking into each others eyes and using every bit of wile the good lord above had given them, shaking their asses in their tiny little skirts all over that dance floor, rubbing against each other for effect. When the song had stopped and switched to a slow song, Beth and Lauren had looked at each other and Lauren had leaned in, knowing full well that every guy out there was watching them with hard cocks and blue balls, and pressed her lips to Beth's._

_Beth was surprised at first but then as she got used to the feel of Lauren's lips, softer, fuller and more pliant than any other person she had ever kissed, she sighed and opened her mouth and Lauren slipped her tongue inside, swirling it around Beth's. As the kiss deepened and lingered on, teeth nipping slightly, Beth was overtaken by the sensation that she actually liked kissing her. It was different and thrilling and nothing like she had ever experienced before. She had always been curious about kissing a woman and she finally knew what it was like. They had broke the kiss finally and giggled, looking at the crowd that had gathered to watch. Beth then took particular satisfaction at smiling and waving at one open-mouthed Brian as they had left the dance floor. Eat your heart out, she thought. It had been the biggest thrilling moment of Beth's life to that point. Something that was taboo in her strong Baptist upbringing. Then again, Beth thought that about everything fun in life was against her upbringing. It was maddening sometimes._

Beth finished telling her story and sat back watching for his reaction.

Daryl watched her as she spoke, relating the story of how she had once kissed a girl and god help him, the thought of it had him getting hard again. He was thankful she had pulled a blanket loosely over both of them. They were laying on her bed, completely content to just sit there and talk. He had been trying hard not to think about what they had just done. But when she told him about her kissing her roommate, he would be lying if he said it didn't turn him on immensely. He shifted his leg trying to adjust to his increasing girth.

"That was some story. Must have been some kiss. Did you like it?" He remarked, smirking at her.

"Why do you say that?" Beth asked looking at him tilting her head to the side, fingering the necklace that always hung at her neck, the one with the two hearts. Whenever she was wistful about something, her hand went to the charm as if it were a talisman to connect her to the past.

"'Cause when you're talking and you're happy about something, you always do that." Daryl pointed at her hand and she flushed.

"Yeah, I guess I do." She said sheepishly, dropping her hand back to the bed.

"You didn't answer the question." Daryl said. Call him stupid or glutton for punishment but he wanted to hear her say that she liked it because it was obvious that she did.

"What question?" She grinned at him, playing the dumb blonde but Daryl knew better.

"You know what I'm talking about. Did you like it? Did you like kissing her?" Daryl was feeling more bold now that they had just crossed that line in the sand with what they had just done.

Beth looked at him and smiled saucily, reaching over and nudging his arm. "Why? Does that turn you on?" Oh Beth knew she was playing with fire. She could tell by looking at him that he was turned on. Could they survive another round? The question that begged to be answered was should they even attempt it? They hadn't even discussed what had just happened in terms of what came next.

Evidently, the conversation would have to wait because the next moment, Daryl whipped the blanket back from his body, revealing his engorged cock at the same time he gripped her wrist just as it reached his arm.

"What do you think?" He said, looking at her carefully. It had been a bold move and he hoped like hell she was up for another go because otherwise he would be going home with a major case of blue balls.

Beth's eyes widened in surprise, her eyes going from his cock to his eyes, already dark with desire. She giggled. "You saying you like this arrangement Dixon?" She was trying to keep her cool when really all she wanted to do was climb him like a tree. Seeing him aroused had awakened her own desire and she felt the moisture between her legs again. She squeezed her legs together, the aching pressure nearly unbearable.

Daryl looked at her thoughtfully as he reached over and ran one hand over the curve of her hip, moving it lower between her legs and Beth didn't hesitate to let her knees fall open and moaned as she watched him dip his finger in between her folds, testing her arousal. "Let's see, I think you might be okay with it." Daryl said, a mischievous glint in his eyes that Beth didn't know he possessed. "So yeah, I guess I'm cool with it." Daryl had to physically restrain himself from putting his finger in his mouth and sucking her juices off, but he wanted to taste her directly from the source. He moved between her legs, never taking his eyes off hers.

God, her pussy was beautiful, he thought, as he positioned himself between her legs, staring at the pink folds, already slick with want. His mouth watered thinking about tasting her but he was going to take his time with her. He didn't know if he felt like he had something to prove or he just wanted to do this but it might have been a combination of both. The whole time he had been fucking her he had been craving her taste, knowing instinctively that she would be sweet and cloying.

He began to place small kisses at the inside of one knee and then the other, teasing her with his tongue and when he reached the inside of her creamy thigh, he bit her lightly, hearing her gasp. He pulled back to look at her and she was gazing down at him, pupils completely blown as she watched him prepare to go down on her.

Daryl began his oral assault on her other leg, marking her with his teeth, a mirror image of the other leg before he finally brought his hands up and placed them under her, gripping one ass cheek in each palm as he looked at her one last time memorizing the look on her face, looking down at him in anticipation, lips parted, chest slightly heaving. Gripping her ass firmly and pulling her to his face he flitted his tongue out and traced it achingly slowly from just below her pussy all the way up, in between her folds and up to her clit where he then fastened his lips, sucking gently. He brought one hand out from under her ass and traced a line that was identical to the trail his tongue had just taken, sliding his finger all the way back down and on the upsweep again, without warning he plunged his finger deep inside her, loving the velvet softness of her dripping hot center. He added another finger while he continued licking and sucking her clit, her moans and gasps driving him on.

Beth gave herself over to the intense pleasure that Daryl was creating between her legs, his tongue teasing and tormenting as he finger-fucked her mercilessly with one finger and then two fingers and then when he added a third, she felt full and aching. Her hips began to rotate of their own accord, her thrusts feeding him her pussy with each jerk of her hips off the mattress. She was frenzied, driven by that feeling of edging ever closer to her orgasm and it wasn't any surprise when she came a few minutes later, crying out his name. "Daryl!" Her hips finally stilled and she opened her eyes when she was coming down, finally meeting his gaze.

He knew he hadn't ever seen anything fucking sexier than watching Beth shatter beneath his lips. He ran his tongue all the way up her slit, lapping up her juices as he went. He then lifted his head from her lap, rubbing his hand down over his five o'clock shadow to wipe off any remaining moisture. As he crawled back up beside her, there was a part of his brain that was screaming at him, "This is Beth Greene" but he shoved it aside for now, choosing to address a more pressing concern and that was his throbbing cock. He took it in his hand, fisting it a few times as he looked at her.

Beth didn't say a word, just reached beside her on the bedside table and grabbed another condom, ripping open the packet and rolling it down over his length just like she had not thirty minutes ago. Daryl brought his lips to hers and she could taste herself on him and she moaned in his mouth remembering all the places his tongue had just been.

As he kissed her he positioned himself between her legs and she wrapped her legs around his hips as he reached down and fisted his cock a few more times before teasing the head up and down her slit, making her moan and gasp all over again. He marveled again at how wanton she was. As he slid his cock back down and positioned himself at her entrance, Beth thrust her hips up to help him sheath himself fully inside her. He looked down at their joined bodies, loving watching the way his hard length slid nearly all the way out, just keeping the head in, and then bucking back into her again before doing it all over again. He continued this punishing rhythm, leaning down to nip lightly at the soft flesh of her neck, until she started meeting him thrust for thrust and he knew from the last time that she was going to need something a little rougher to get her going. He pulled out and predictably heard her whimper.

"Turn over." Daryl's voice was gruff and right by her ear when he spoke and if he hadn't just removed his dick from her she might have come.

She looked up at him and seeing the intent in his eyes she did as she was told, rolling over onto all fours and positioning her elbows on the bed, knowing the angle she was providing would be more than enough to get them both off.

She felt him reach down and drag the pads of his fingers from her clit to her pussy and tease her opening for just a moment before sliding himself back in and she moaned loudly in answer to his groan, feeling him fill her up completely. He began moving his hips just as she thrust her ass back towards him, meeting his every move, the only sound being heard were his balls hitting her ass on each stroke. She reached one hand up underneath her and found her clit as he pounded into her, alternately using steady massage and firm strokes.

Daryl didn't know how much longer he was going to last. The friction combined with the angle and the view of her perfectly round ass as he buried himself in her literally balls-deep was more than he could bear. He saw her reach down and start to play with herself just above where he was plundering her sweet pussy and it was nearly his undoing. He clenched his eyes shut and only when he felt her begin to clench around him did he allow himself to open his eyes again. It was a fresh assault on his senses, watching her aid her orgasm and hearing her loud moans and gasps as she rode it out and before long he was spiraling over the edge with her, the waves coursing over his body, traveling over his spine and making every muscle quiver as his release spun itself out.

He collapsed half on her and half off of her, barely having the strength to dispose of the condom. He laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling and he looked over after a moment finding that she was doing the same.

"God, that was so amazin'" she drawled. He loved when her southern accent came out. Usually it was when she was drunk. He didn't know that sex also unleashed the debutante lilt in her voice until that moment. He found he liked it and he smiled over at her.

He nodded his head. "So. What now?" He looked at her pointedly and they both started laughing uncontrollably.

When they finally got their laughter under control a few minutes later, Beth spoke. "And you didn't want to do this!" She said in that I-told-you-so-voice. She pulled the blanket up over them again, feeling just slightly awkward now that it seemed their passion was finally spent. "Thank you for ending my 8 month long sexual hiatus." She said, giggling half way through the sentence.

"Yes, it was such a hardship." Daryl rolled his eyes at her mockingly.

"Oh come on it'd been what, a year for you?" she said and he nodded.

"'M I supposed to bow at your feet now and thank you too?" Daryl asked. He was always teasing her about being a princess, so this fit too.

She playfully hit his arm. "Stop. You may not want to admit it, but you're grateful. I heard it in every moan and groan." She looked at him boldly and could not stop the cheeky grin on her face.

He flashed his eyes at her as he sat up. "Yeah, yeah, thanks for fuckin' me. That what ya needed to hear. God ya have a huge ego." He grinned at her. It was always like this with them and he was glad they were able to joke about what they had just done. When he had pulled out of her the second time, he had been terrified for a moment that they had ruined their friendship.

Beth yawned. "Guess we'll have to finish that movie another time, huh? Next Friday?" she said.

"You bet," he returned her smile and got up from the bed, not bothering to cover up because what was the point now. "I gotta run. I have to be at work early tomorrow." He was a guard at the local prison and his shift started at 7:00 a.m. which meant he had to leave his house at 6:00 just to be on time. He started pulling on his clothes looking around for his shirt.

"You seen my shirt?" He said, looking under the bed.

"I think we might have left some stuff in the other room. You have a nice ass, anybody ever tell ya that?" Beth replied, looking at him thoughtful, a small smile playing on her lips. Beth reached down she pulled on her shorts and fumbled through her dresser, settling on an oversized t-shirt.

He started laughing as he remembered fifteen year old Beth Greene yelling at him and them having this incredibly stupid fight, about what, he couldn't remember. And he'd yelled at her that she was nothing but a baby. And she'd come back with the reply that he was a jackass.

Only the music blaring in the car was so loud that he'd thought she'd said he had a nice ass. He'd looked at her like she had grown horns and once they realized what happened, they had nearly doubled over with laughter. Ever since then, Beth would occasionally tell him he had a nice ass. It never failed to make him laugh.

"I'll call ya tomorrow, okay?" Daryl said as he pulled on his shirt. Beth sat on the sofa, wrapping herself in the quilt and grabbing her book bag. She might as well study until she could no longer keep her eyes open.

"Okay. Hey Daryl?" She called out from the sofa.

"Yeah." Daryl paused in the doorway and turned back to look at her hair tousled from sex and it struck him right then just what they had done. He saw her differently now and he didn't know how he felt about it.

"Thanks for doing this. I think we're gonna like it." She smiled sweetly at him then and he nodded and shrugged.

"See ya tomorrow." He said and Beth watched as he closed the door behind him and it clicked back into place.

She smiled to herself as she retrieved her laptop from her bag. She and Daryl were supposed to go to a party at Maggie and Glenn's house the next night. They had agreed to it months ago and Beth was looking forward to it. She knew Daryl wasn't though and she wished she had reminded him while he was here but they had been otherwise engaged, she remembered with a tiny smile. It wasn't like she was likely to forget it, she thought as she shifted on the sofa. She was a little saddle-sore since it had been so long for her, but she wasn't complaining. She pulled her phone out to text him about the party and went back to her studies, thinking that she'd probably sleep better tonight than she had in months.

* * *

Daryl pulled his phone out of his pocket once he reached his two bedroom house. It was on the outskirts of town and on the edge of the woods. He'd bought it with the small amount of money he and Merle got from the state when they'd come in to buy the old man's place after he died. They'd needed the land for some future highway. Daryl didn't care one way or the other. He'd been able to buy the house he was in now and that was all that mattered.

Out here, he had everything he needed which was basically no one and nothing. He hunted every chance he got and knew the woods like the back of his hand. He'd brought Beth out here a few times since he'd bought the place last year and she loved it too. In fact, she was the only person he would ever consider bringing. Somehow with Beth, nothing in the world seemed as bad. She always had a different way of looking at things.

His mind wandered back to what he'd thought about all the way home. The one time that he'd fallen in love with Beth Greene and it had nearly killed him. He'd vowed then, once he had finally gotten over her that he'd never allow himself in that position again. He didn't know why, after all this time, he was thinking of it now but it was bugging the hell out of him. Of course he loved Beth but he wasn't in love with her. They were just friends and that was it.

He pulled his phone off the table as it buzzed that he had a notification.

_Beth: Don't forget about Maggie and Glenn's party tomorrow night. Text me tomorrow and we'll figure out the details. Night!_

_Daryl: Damn I forgot about it. You sure I have ta go? They won't even miss me._

_Beth: Yes, they will. Especially Glenn. He's been wanting to hang out forever. Come on, please? I promise you'll have fun._

_Daryl: Fine but you owe me Greene._

_Beth: Oh yeah, speaking of debt, you owe me an explanation about your drunk karaoke night._

_Daryl: Night night Greene. Sleep tight._

_Beth: Daryl Dixon, rules are rules! You tell me or else._

_Daryl: I think you're messages are scrambling. Talk to you tomorrow._

Daryl grinned as he killed the display light and sat his phone down on the table. She was going to be all kinds of pissed off that she hadn't gotten his confession out of him on the night that he made it. But he figured it'd do her good. It wasn't good to always let Beth get her way. Although tonight, he figured he had done just that when he'd agreed to this crazy scheme.

As much as he had been against the idea, he couldn't regret it, not really. But thinking about it now wasn't going to do him much good. As he closed his eyes, he couldn't get the picture out of his head; the picture of her sitting on the sofa, blanket drawn up around her, hair sex-mussed and that sweet smile playing across her lips, blue eyes flashing in that way that she had mastered long ago. It was a side of her he had never seen until tonight. A side he had never expected to. He got a strange sense of pride wash over him then, knowing the things he had done to her and that she had liked it. He knew he sure as hell had enjoyed every single minute he'd spent bending her body to his will. He'd fucked pretty little Beth Greene and he wasn't sure sex for him would ever be the same again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh you guys the response to this story has been great. I am so happy that you are liking it. Honestly this is my fic that I love writing almost more than the others because it's well....delicious. It's kinda like crack. lmao. Hope you like this update. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party time. And what's a party without a little drama. ;)

Warning: Violence and intimate partner violence are featured in this chapter.

Chapter 4

All the way to Beth's house to pick her up for the party, Daryl worried if things were going to be weird for him and Beth. After what they had done, he couldn't help but feel like they had crossed a line and there was no going back. Unfortunately there wasn't really anybody he could ask either. His closest friend was Glenn and anything he said to him was likely to fall on Beth's ears in five minutes flat. Glenn wasn't exactly known for being able to keep a secret.

He was at her door in minutes and he walked in the apartment with the door slightly ajar already. He hated when she did shit like that. They didn't live in inner city Atlanta or anything, but still you couldn't be too careful in this day and time.

"Beth?" He called and heard her answer from her bedroom. Daryl wasn't sure if he should go back there or not. It was the damnedest thing. Before last night, before they had ever had sex, he would have never hesitated because for some reason or another, she always wanted his opinions on what she was wearing. But now that they had slept together, here he was stuffing his hands all the way down the front pockets of his jeans just to keep from wanting to smoke a cigarette. He made his way back to the bedroom and looked around the room at the disaster that evidently happened there with the clothes and shoes strewn about on every available surface. He should be surprised but this was a regular occurrence.

"How many times I tell ya not to leave your door unlocked?" Daryl waited for her to respond but presently she was bent over in the mess of a closet of hers looking for something. It was a needle in the haystack from the looks of things.

Beth raised up and turned around, face lit up with a smile, holding up her other shoe. "Found it!" She said smugly as she balanced herself and put the other shoe on. "Okay now what were you saying?"

"Just lock your door. Ya know how I worry about ya." Daryl looked at her pointedly.

"I'm fine, Daryl. Last time I heard he had another unsuspecting victim." Beth quipped, her face instantly turning dark at the mentioned of douche bag number four. "But I'll try to do better. You're sweet to worry about me, but I can take care of myself." Beth patted his arm as she walked by him. "Come on, let's go. We're already late. Maggie's done texted me three times asking if we were on our way. Did you stop and get the beer and chips?"

Daryl grunted his reply, still not satisfied with her nonchalance over her safety. He followed her to the door and watched as she grabbed her purse and fumbled through it. "I don't need your money. I got this one. You can get the next." This was an old fan favorite of their fights. He paid for something, she offered half the money back, and he refused. Then she would pay for something and the cycle started all over again. It was exhausting but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Beth rolled her eyes at him. "You said that the last time. In fact, I think you said it the time before that too. One of these days I'm gonna start keeping score." Beth said playfully as she climbed up into the truck and shutting the door. She turned to face him suddenly as he started the truck, "Speaking of keeping score!" She exclaimed. "You owe me an explanation about the drunk karaoke. Spill!" She demanded and took special pleasure in the annoyed groan he emitted.

"Oh come on," he didn't know why he was trying to argue with her. She'd get the truth out of him eventually and he'd rather tell it now than when they were anywhere near the party. "Fuckin' fine." He muttered. "It was me and Glenn". He couldn't help the tiny upturn of his lips in the corner just because he knew how funny she was going to find the whole thing.

Beth sputtered before breaking into a fit of giggles that then turned into full out laughter and Daryl waited not so patiently for her to finish laughing before he said anything else.

Beth looked over at Daryl and the look on his face was sobering enough so she straightened up and tried to keep a straight face. "I can't wait to hear this. Go ahead." She waved her hand at him to prompt him to continue his wonderful story. She could hardly wait but she smiled encouragingly in his direction. She knew that stuff like this was never going to come easily to him. "Okay, I'll be good, I promise."

"Pfft, you? Be good?" He teased then began his story. "It was when we went out, me and him, when you and Maggie went shoppin'. So we went out to that old pool bar on Highway 81, County Line." He stopped and she nodded for him to continue. "It was karaoke night and he called Maggie and they got in that fight."

Recognition dawned on Beth then. "Oh yeah, I remember. I ended up staying the night. Glenn was shit-faced when he got home."

"He wasn't the only one. Well when he and Maggie had that fight and she told him not to come home, he took it hard. He put them tequila shots back like they was nothin'. And my dumb ass decided that I'd be a good friend if I drank with him. Well then they announce that it's fuckin' karaoke night. I normally wouldn't pay any attention to shit like that but Glenn was all over it. Made me go with him and pick out a song. I was so fuckin' drunk at that point, I went right along with it." Daryl looked at her.

"Wait? You mean to tell me that Glenn didn't tell Maggie about this? He couldn't have, otherwise I would have heard about it. How'd you get him to keep your secret?" Beth had a feeling but she wanted to hear him say it.

"I threatened him of course." Daryl grinned wickedly at her.

"He ain't scared of you." Beth said and then caught his expression. If he was keeping Daryl's secrets, then that meant that Glenn had secrets to keep too. Her jaw dropped open. "You better not keep somethin' serious from Maggie." Beth's tone was a warning. Maggie and Glenn had the best relationship of anyone she knew, but everyone knew that Maggie kind of ran the show.

"You kiddin'? I know that." Daryl had never really been afraid of anybody in his life except for Will Dixon. But Maggie Greene Rhee? That girl had a left hook that'd and you on your ass. He should know; he'd been on the receiving end before.

They pulled up to the house and drove around to the back of the property where a dozen cars and trucks were already parked in a circle. The party seemed to be in full swing already, Daryl thought. He hated these things but suffered through them because of Beth and he actually didn't hate hanging out with Glenn. Except when he made him sing drunk karaoke, he mused with a smirk.

"Oh wait! What did y'all sing?" Beth looked at him grinning.

He hung his head and groaned. He had been hoping that she wouldn't ask. He looked back up at her and met her eyes knowing for sure that he was never going to live this down as long as he lived. "Maggie May". Glenn started trying to dance and that's when I told him to fuck off and walked off the stage."

Beth laughed at the same time she rolled her eyes. "He sang that to her when they broke up that one time before they got married." Beth smiled at him as they walked out to join everyone. "It was sweet of you to stay and cheer him up that night." Beth leaned up and kissed his cheek quickly.

Daryl watched her retreating form, wondering why the hell he had ever worried about how things would be with them. It was like nothing had ever happened the night before. He tried not to think too much about the whole thing as he watched her and Maggie hug like they hadn't seen each other in years when in actuality it had probably only been a couple of days. He loved it though. Loved that she had the closeness with her siblings that he never got.

Glenn walked up and handed him a beer. "Hey man. Glad you could make it."

Daryl looked over at him. "May as well tell ya, the cat's outta the bag. I told Beth about the karaoke. You're off the hook." Daryl smirked at his fried.

Glenn grinned at him. "How the hell she get you to tell her that?"

"That stupid confession game is gonna get me in deep shit one day." Daryl grumbled.

"Oh Maggie thinks it's the best thing. She wants us to do it too." Glenn rolled his eyes.

"Women." Daryl muttered, taking another swig of his beer. The strangest thing came over him then the way he had just indirectly talked about Beth as if she was his girlfriend. And she wasn't but it was just the context of the conversation that had his insides in a twist all the sudden.

He heard Beth laughing and looked over at her and Maggie looking in their direction. He felt his face flush and glared at Glenn. "You ever pull that shit again, you'd best pray I can't find ya the next day."

Glenn chuckled. "Whatever man, you looked like you were havin' fun on that video Merle shot of us."

"Fuckin' hell man, I told you to erase that shit." Daryl whispered furiously feeling his face flame up at the thought of that damn video getting in the wrong hands.

Beth and Maggie chose that moment to walk up. "Let's go guys. Time to go mingle." Beth swished her hips at Daryl as she took another swig of her beer making him nearly spit his beer everywhere, remembering how he'd made her hips do something similar the night before. He smirked at her and her eyes met his. He could tell by the spark in her eye that she was remembering the same thing.

Daryl had to admit that he couldn't complain about being there now that he was hanging out with everybody. It wasn't his cup of tea and he generally faded into the background and watched what everyone else especially Beth. But for whatever reason, tonight he was feeling a slight bit more social so for once he allowed himself to be pulled into conversation. Glenn was going on about something going wrong with his car. Car engines were something that Daryl could relate to. Now if any of them started talking about fantasy football or some shit, he'd be completely lost.

This party was just what he had needed after the day he had. Being an officer at the prison was not exactly a pie job. Any given day was a crap shoot and sometimes that was a literal statement with inmates flinging their own shit at people. No one had flung anything at him that day except for the same bullshit he got every single shift. He just got tired of it is all. Yes, this party was just what he needed to get out of his head for a little while.

Beth danced her way back over to Daryl and bumped into his hip. She was slightly tipsy but she hadn't felt this good in a long time. Before she had anything else to drink, she wanted to make sure she and Daryl were on the same page.

"Hey." She grinned up at him lazily.

Daryl had watched her wiggle her ass all the way back over to where he and Glenn were standing and talking. "Hey yourself." He smirked at her. "How much you had to drink sunshine, Greene?" He said, reaching out a hand to steady her beer bottle when it threatened to tip over and spill all over his boots.

Beth giggled. "Not that much. Why? Are we staying like we normally do?" Beth asked him. They usually stayed in Maggie and Glenn's basement. The whole lower level had just been remodeled as a separate guest house which Maggie had pushed for the past two years. She was in real estate and insisted that it would increase the value of the house if they ever decided to sell. Beth knew better though. Maggie would never sell it. She loved that house and Glenn did too. They had bought it to start a family, but it just hadn't happened for them yet.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "We can stay. I don't gotta be up tomorrow."

Beth grinned at him. "Sounds good. I'll go tell Maggie. See ya later, sexy." Beth smacked Daryl's ass playfully as she walked away.

Daryl watched her walk away and tried not to let it seem like he was shocked by her behavior. He could feel Glenn's eyes on him and he tried to think fast. "She's a lot drunker than she's lettin' on." Daryl met Glenn's eyes. He saw the open question there.

Glenn just nodded, eyes dazed, and looked over to Beth and Maggie where it looked like they were having the same discussion.

"What was that all about?" Maggie looked pointedly at her sister. She had never seen her sister and Daryl behave that way with one another before."

Beth giggled. "Calm down Mags. I was just playing. We do that all the time." Beth grinned impishly at her sister and Maggie's features relaxed considerably. They didn't do that all the time and she had an error in judgment in smacking his ass like she did but it had felt right at the time.

"Dammit" Maggie swore. "I was hopin' you were tellin' me you two had finally given in and taken my advice." Maggie sighed.

Beth looked at her sister for a minute and debated on whether or not to tell her what really was going on. She was dying to tell someone. But maybe a party full of 20 of their closest friends wasn't the place to bring up such a thing. So she just played it off.

"Oh I love this song," Beth exclaimed when the next song came on the radio from someone's truck. She dragged Maggie over to where everyone else was dancing and started gyrating her hips in time to the music. Maggie was laughing at her but she didn't care. She was having fun tonight and she didn't care who laughed. She had only had a few beers but she was definitely feeling a buzz.

Suddenly she felt hands grab her from behind. "Hey darlin'." Brandon's breath was hot on her neck and just hearing his voice was enough to incite the panic coursing through her veins. She turned to face him, wanting to quickly de-escalate a situation that was bound to be out of control in a hot minute. Maggie eyed her warily, spoiling for a fight. Beth just shook her head at her and Maggie nodded and retreated for a minute to go get Daryl, she presumed.

"What are you doing here?" She turned to look into the darkest eyes she had ever seen. He looked like shit, hair unkempt and his face was red and sweaty. Brandon had been her boyfriend a couple years back and he had been controlling almost from the start but he had done it in subtle ways that made it seem cute at first. Gradually he had become abusive, his fits of rage getting worse and worse until one night he had knocked her unconscious. That was the breaking point for Beth. She had left him after that and after a few years of therapy she had finally gotten to the point that she didn't need daily medication to control her panic attacks.

But with all the alcohol she had tonight, she felt vulnerable and exposed and very much as if he was still in control.

"Heard this little party was going on and knew my favorite girl was going to be here." He leered at her while taking one finger and running it down her chest and back up before tweaking a nipple crudely.

Beth shoved his hand away and spoke to him through clenched teeth. "Get your hands off me."

"Oh come on baby, don't be that way. I've missed you." Brandon moved his entire body into her personal space and pulled her roughly into his arms, trying to pin her arms to her sides. Beth turned her head to the side to avoid his lips meeting hers, and brought her knee up. He effectively blocked her kick to his genitals by shoving her away causing her to land on her butt a few feet away.

Daryl saw Maggie's purposeful gaze and followed her line of sight back to Beth talking to some guy.

Maggie reached him. "It's Brandon. I think you better get over there." Maggie crossed her arms over her chest and followed Daryl back over to where Beth was now having to fight him off from where she was sitting on the ground, obviously too stunned to be effective against his advances.

Daryl took off running and spun the guy around "'What the fuck you think you're doin' puttin' your hands on her." The fucker came at him then and he resisted the urge to laugh.

"What's it to you? She's my girlfriend. I can touch her however I want. She likes it like that."

Daryl saw red at his words and didn't even give him the courtesy of an answer choosing instead to answer with his fists. He nodded a little, shaking his head like he was going to walk away and then turned suddenly, zeroing in on the little shit's face and landing a perfect punch to the side of his jaw, hearing the resounding and unmistakable sound of bone crunching. Daryl would be lying if he didn't admit to some small feeling of accomplishment in that. "You don't fuckin' touch her. You hear me? You touch her again, you'll be picking your teeth up off the ground piece by mother-fuckin' piece."

Damned if the guy didn't come back at him again. "Fucking redneck prick." Brandon muttered.

Daryl swore, "That's it. I wanted to fuck you up for a while now for the shit you put Beth through. I'm just sorry it took me this long to do it." He pulled on the scruff of his shirt and leaned back before connecting his fist with his abdomen. He didn't let up from there. He heard the groan as he connected his fist with his face again, this time square on his nose. Daryl ducked, narrowly missing a black eye as Brandon missed his jaw by mere inches. His response was a roundhouse kick to the punk's ribs.

Daryl felt Glenn's arms on him and one of the little shit's buddies came up behind him and pulled him away. "Come on Brandon, I think it's best we leave." Brandon was straining at the guy's grip on his arms. "I'm not leaving until she comes with me!"

"Listen you low-life piece of shit, she doesn't want anythin' to do with you! She hates you! So fuck off!" Daryl spat the words at him.

"What the fuck do you know about her, redneck! Beth don't tell me you're fucking this white trash?!" Brandon's voice was venomous as he almost dared Daryl to come back at him again. If it wasn't for Glenn holding him back, he would have already beaten him to a bloody pulp.

"It ain't none of your business who she fucks and who she doesn't fuck. Ain't never gonna be your business again. But I'm making this my business. You come near here again, I will stomp your ass into the ground. You get me?" Daryl was seething with anger at this point.

His buddy was leading the asshole away and Daryl didn't take his eyes off him until he was out of his sight.

Beth watched the whole thing from the safety of her sister's arms, sobbing. She didn't know why he couldn't just leave her alone. She saw Glenn holding Daryl back, a little ineffectively, but it looked like it was breaking up anyway. She had watched Daryl beat the hell out of Brandon and she found that she was torn between wanting to stop the fight and wanting to watch Brandon bleed. It was the most awful combination of emotions she had ever had; anger-driven revenge and sympathy.

"We're not done Beth. I still love you!" Brandon was screaming then while his friend led him away. "I love you and you love me!" He called out the rolled down window of his truck as they drove off the property.

Daryl pulled his arms forward, straining to get Glenn to release him. "Get the fuck off me man."

"Sorry, just the last thing anyone needs is the cops getting called tonight." Glenn let go of him and he strode to Beth's side where Maggie was holding her and she was crying inconsolably. His eyes met Maggie's over Beth's head. She looked like she could have taken Brandon's head off as well.

"Take her inside where people aren't starin'" Maggie whispered at him. "Thanks Daryl. You did what we've all been wantin' to do." Maggie offered him a small smile and he nodded at her, still unable to speak after what had just gone down.

Beth turned to look up at Daryl, the one person that she knew could get her through this if anyone could. She saw him holding out his arms and that was all it took for her to lose it all over again, sobbing hysterically as she fell into his embrace. To say she was re-traumatized was an understatement.

"Come here, Princess. He can't hurt you now." He crooned softly as Beth sobbed into his chest, putting his arms around her and holding her close. He nodded at Maggie and headed towards the house, guiding Beth to the door.

Once they were safely inside, he led her downstairs, shutting the door behind them. He didn't bother flipping on any lights, deciding the tiny lamp providing ambient lighting would suffice. The room was an open floor plan except for the bathroom, which was off to the right. It had everything it needed, a small kitchenette with a dining set, a sofa and chair positioned in front of the big screen and on the far wall was a four poster bed piled up with the pillows and quilts.

He sat her down on the bed and pulled back from her to look at her. Seeing her in such anguish caused a whirl of conflicting emotions to erupt in his gut. He was still seething under the surface but seeing her like this, looking fragile and broken, he felt a sharp tug on his heartstrings.

"It's gonna be okay, Beth. He's gone and I ain't gonna let him near you again." He said softly.

She watched him, her eyes wide and doe-like as the tears continued to trickle down her face. He reached up and brushed the pads of her thumbs over her cheeks, trying to wipe the offending tears away but they just kept coming.

"I hate him" She managed to get that out before she began sobbing again and crumpled against him. She was trying to say something else but she was speaking into his chest and he couldn't understand her with the intensity of her sobs. He moved his hand to the back of her head, running his fingers through her hair and whispering softly to her all the things he knew he should say but knew it wouldn't do much to make her feel better. He figured it was best to just let her cry it out. He turned his head slightly and kissed the side of her head, his lips tickling against her silky mane.

He was wishing like hell he'd gone ahead and kicked his ass into the next county. Stupid shit didn't even deserve to still be breathing after what he did to her.

When Beth had told him all the things that Brandon had done he had been incensed and had begged her to tell him where he lived so he could give him a piece of his mind and his fists too if he were to be honest. As satisfying as it was to punch him tonight, it hadn't been nearly enough to quell the rage at seeing Beth sitting on the ground after he violently shoved her down. He also knew though if Glenn hadn't pulled him away when he did, the guy would have likely been taken away in an ambulance. He would have to thank Glenn later for sparing him the headache and the lawsuit that was sure to have followed.

He forced his thoughts to Beth then, reasoning that he wouldn't be any good to her if he was just a big ball of anger. She seemed like she had quieted down a bit and she finally pulled her face away from his chest and sat up a bit, sniffling. He reached over and retrieved a tissue from the box on the nightstand, handing it to her. "Here ya go." He looked at her carefully and her eyes met his. He hated seeing the look of defeat in her eyes.

"Thank you Daryl." Beth whispered, reaching up and wiping her eyes ineffectively with the now soggy tissue. Daryl reached for the box of tissues again and thought better of it and handed her the whole thing.

Beth looked up at him with a watery smile. "Yeah, I probably will need the whole box." She looked off to the side for a minute and Daryl gave her time to think.

She looked back at him. "I thought I was past the point of falling apart when I saw him but tonight it all came rushing back at me. I'm sorry I ruined your night."

Daryl's heart broke at her words. "You didn't ruin anything Beth. He's an asshole. Have you ever thought about getting a restraining order?" Daryl didn't know if it would do any good, but he figured it couldn't hurt since the guy seemed hell-bent in trying to stay in Beth's life.

Beth shook her head miserably. "I was trying to keep things civil for his sake. He's a police officer remember. If I file for it, he could lose his job."

Daryl snorted, his face heating up again. "That ain't for you to worry about, Beth. Maybe he needs a big dose of reality."

Beth smiled at him then. It was small but it was a start and the vice around his heart felt just a little bit looser. "I think he got one when you beat the shit out of him tonight." Beth giggled a bit then.

Beth marveled at Daryl. She wished they had been talking when everything went down with Brandon. Of course, if they had, Beth was willing to bet it would have never gone as bad as it did because Daryl would have put a stop to all of it, the controlling, the anger, the rage with his fists flying and insults hurled her way.

"It's just not fair. I thought I had worked through all this. I thought that would be the end of it. I'm never going to be free from him." Beth looked down at the floor.

Daryl put his hand out and tipped her chin up with one finger. "Beth look at me." She met his eyes, all the pain etched on her features. "You are free of him. He ain't getting' near ya again".

She looked directly at him. "You can't be there all the time Daryl." She said, smiling softly at his gallant gesture.

"Wanna try me? I am always gonna be here for you girl." He said and he fiercely meant it.

Beth got up from the bed and began undressing. "Don't worry, I ain't gonna jump your bones right now. I'm exhausted. I just want to sleep."

He nodded and got up and went to the other side of the bed undressing down to his boxers. They had slept in the same bed on more occasions he could think of and tonight shouldn't be any different. He felt a little hesitant slipping under the covers, but got over it once she settled against him. It was just like old times.

* * *

They awoke a few hours later and all was quiet in the house. Beth looked at the clock on the table seeing it read 3:05 a.m. Beth rolled back over, not even bothering to disentangle herself from Daryl's arms. They had slept like this countless times but of course that was before their little arrangement. Beth thought back over the events of the evening and she wanted to cry all over again. She was sick of every time she got her life back on track, Brandon would come back in and act like nothing ever happened. She had gone back with him the first two times he had snapped. But by the second time she went back to him, his good mood hadn't lasted all that long and she had barely escaped with her life. Since he was a cop, no one was likely to believe her so she had let the whole thing go but she knew she would never go back with him after that night. And she didn't.

She looked at the sleeping man next to her and wondered at him. He was the most amazing person she had ever met. The way he had been there for her tonight and the way he had stuck up for her. He'd been doing that their whole lives. He was her champion and she guessed he always would be. He may be emotionally stunted because of the shit hand he'd been dealt in life but he was fiercely protective of those he loved, almost to a fault. But Beth couldn't find any fault in him with that tonight. He had been her proverbial knight in shining armor.

She moved her hand over to his chest and splayed her fingers out, loving the feel of how hard his pecs were under her soft touch. They'd gone to sleep, removing what was essential to be comfortable so he was wearing nothing but boxers. As far as Beth knew, she was the only person he ever went shirtless around. She had seen his scars long ago and though she hated them, she knew he hated people staring more so she had become immune to them a long time ago. She had gone upstairs right before they went to sleep and grabbed a pair of Maggie's sleep shorts and a tank top to sleep in.

He looked so peaceful laying there and she was in awe of how completely he had taken care of her tonight. He stirred a bit and turned over towards her, his eyes opening and then shutting again. Beth leaned over and kissed his cheek whispering. "Love ya." They didn't say it often but they had been friends forever and what he did for her tonight merited some kind of rewarded affection.

She held her breath as he stirred beside her. He opened his eyes and met hers in the dimness of the room. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Beth whispered. "Go back to sleep."

"Nah, I'm awake." He reached up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with the back of his hand. He propped his head up on his arm. "What's wrong?" He saw the pain in her eyes but he saw something else too.

"Daryl, I know it's gonna sound weird but I need to feel somethin' besides all this numbness and sadness." She placed her hand on his chest then and traced a lazy circle with her fingertip, drawing an imaginary line around his nipple.

Daryl looked at her questioningly. Surely she didn't mean what he thought she did. Maybe his sleep-addled brain was getting crossed signals.

Beth moved her hand lower under the covers and let her fingers walk all the way down to the waistband of his boxers toying with the elastic there. No, he hadn't misread any signals. Her intentions were coming in loud and clear. He moved his hand down to capture her wrist, gripping it lightly.

"Hold up a minute. You telling me you want us to fuck right now?" Daryl felt weird calling it that in light of all that happened that night especially in light of the derogatory manner that piece of shit had referenced him and Beth. He didn't know they were sleeping together, but it did nothing to make him feel better about the situation.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm telling you." She flashed him a sultry smile and he marveled again at how quickly her demeanor could change. He felt his cock twitch. She flexed her wrist and he released her hand as she snaked it under his boxers and gripped his length in her hand.

Daryl was pulled under then in a haze of sex and lust and he lost all coherent thought. He had to have her, consequences be damned. They were walking a thin line with the events of the evening and their new arrangement, but he was helpless to control himself. He wanted her. It was simple as that. He looked into her eyes searchingly and saw the unmistakable signs of desire, her pupils blown wide.

Beth was acutely aware of how aroused she was and she could see the desire in his eyes as well. She knew it might not be a smart idea to mix up the physical with the damnable amount of emotional baggage they had dealt with this evening, but right now she didn't care. She wanted to feel something; anything besides this emptiness inside. And right now, the only person she could think of to fill her up was one Daryl Dixon. It might not be wise to venture down this particular path right now seeing as how she was probably at her most vulnerable, but her desire could not be tamped down.

"You sure about this?" Daryl looked at her and half expected her to say that she wasn't. He watched, lips parted as she continued to stroke him and nodded her head.

He'd likely regret the hell out of this tomorrow with the mess of words running through his head, mucking up how he felt, but right now he just wanted one thing. Beth Greene's legs wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her. He just wanted to make her forget that lowlife had ever existed as he brought her to orgasm. He decided then that one orgasm would never do. He removed her hand from his dick and she watched him curiously as he moved down the bed, removing their covers as he went. He looped one hand on either side of her shorts, curling his fingers into the waistband and pulling off her shorts and panties together, tugging them downward, her hips lifting off the bed in assistance, as he pulled them off her slowly. He was going to take his time with her and one orgasm would never suffice. He lowered his head between her legs intent on staying there until she screamed his name over and over again. He could do this for her. He could give her pleasure. As he dipped his tongue down into her folds, tasting her, teasing her, she moaned his name. He looked up and smiled at her. "May as well get comfortable." He grinned at her wolfishly, pausing for effect. "This is gonna take a while."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? Tell me what you thought! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie and Glenn hear something. Beth tries to explain. Glenn and Daryl bond. Then things get interesting.

Maggie and Glenn had just woke up in the morning. She had no sooner rolled over to kiss her husband good morning, hoping for a quickie before she went and fixed breakfast for all of them than she heard something from downstairs. Daryl and Beth usually got up soon after Maggie and Glenn did and Saturday morning pancakes had long been a post party tradition.

"Good morning, baby." Maggie purred as she ran her hand over her husband's chest.

Glenn opened his eyes and ran his hand down over his face. "What time is it?" He said gruffly as he leaned in for a kiss.

"It's still early, shh," Maggie put a finger to her lips as she heard the sound from downstairs again. It was a pounding noise, rhythmic almost and something else. She looked to Glenn as the sound got louder, her mouth dropping open in surprise as she realized what it was exactly that she was hearing.

Her sister in the obvious throes of orgasm. "Daryl! Fuck me harder! Oh my god, yes, yes!" The last shout was drawn out until if faded and then there was a lot of giggling and if you strained your hearing just the right way you could hear Daryl's baritone voice chuckling right along with her.

Maggie was no innocent that was for sure but the thought of her sister and Daryl Dixon doing the dirty down in her basement converted guest bedroom made her face fire up with blush. Still yet, she looked over at Glenn whose expression mirrored her own. Shock and awe did not come close to describing how surprised they were.

Maggie looked and Glenn and Glenn looked at Maggie and they said it in unison as if they'd read each other's minds. "It's about damn time!"

* * *

Daryl sat on the side of the bed and put his jeans on as he watched Beth pull her shorts and cowboy boots back on.

"You see that shirt I was wearing last night?" Beth asked looking under the bed right back where Daryl was sitting. Her ass was turned right up in his face and it was hard to not think about how much he had stared at her ass the night before as he drove himself into her again and again. As he pulled his boots back on, he reached behind him and swatted her in the ass with her shirt to get her attention.

"Found it." He said as she squealed. He couldn't help the grin that came across his face as she turned around to look at him in surprise.

"Oh god, I remember slapping your ass last night right in front of Maggie and Glenn." Beth groaned as the intoxicated image flitted through her mind.

Daryl chuckled. "If you should be worried about anythin', you should worry about whether or not they heard your performance a few minutes ago." Daryl put his arms through his sleeves.

"Oh that wasn't a performance darlin'," Beth drawled with a wink. "That was all real." She drew out the last two words and he laughed.

"Oh yeah, darlin'," he mocked her, "I know that. I felt it." He smirked and she playfully swatted at him as he got up and he managed to successfully dodge her playful punch.

They were both laughing as they got back upstairs, following the scent of fresh brewed coffee.

Beth walked into the kitchen and she could tell by the knowing smirk on Maggie's face that she was in trouble but she tried to play it off. Maybe it was about the ass-slap thing from last night. Although she didn't really see what the big deal was. It wasn't that much of a stretch that she and Daryl would behave that way, was it? It was hard for her to tell. Everything seemed jumbled up lately.

"Mornin', Mags," Beth said, glancing at her sister sideways to gauge her mood. She knew her well. She was just barely containing herself so she figured she may as well get it over with. She put the coffee cup that she had just retrieved from the cabinet back down on the counter. "Okay, out with it." Beth stood back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh, it's nothin' Bethie." Maggie drawled and laughed glancing to Glenn.

Beth noted that Glenn was looking at her weird too.

"Just wonderin' how you two slept last night." Maggie laughed and looked at Beth pointedly.

"Slept just fine. How about you and Glenn?" Beth asked, her tone even.

Daryl was watching the whole thing and he was glad that Beth had opted to take care of the conversation. This was definitely not his domain.

Maggie groaned then. "You took all the fun out of it." She complained. "We heard you, ya know. Probably half the county heard you." Maggie looked down her nose at Beth.

"Oh you're one to talk, when you and Glenn started dating I could hear you all the way out in the meadow when y'all were fuckin' in the barn." Beth replied.

Maggie looked at Daryl. "Sorry, Daryl can you and Glenn excuse us for a minute? We'll call you guys when breakfast is ready."

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "Ain't gonna catch me complainin'." He muttered and he and Glenn took their leave out the back deck.

* * *

They stepped outside and Glenn looked uncertainly at Daryl. They were close, sure, but discussing what had happened in his basement a few minutes ago was not something he was real comfortable talking about and he didn't think Daryl was either.

Glenn looked out over the property. "Man it's gonna take me all morning to clean this shit up." He grumbled as he surveyed the remnants of last night's party. It looked like anyone who had decided to camp out in their trucks had left with the rising morning sun. It was June and it wasn't uncommon for the sweltering humidity to cripple people before the sun ever came out.

Daryl stepped off the deck and headed towards the first area containing a lot of debris. "Get a trash bag. Ain't no sense in having to spend all day on it. I can help."

Glenn nodded and retrieved the trash bag out of the can on the deck and they walked the property together, picking up cans and bottles.

"Your friends are slobs." Daryl remarked.

Glenn chuckled. "Yeah, they are. Assholes. They always say they won't destroy the yard and then they do."

"Think they're done yet?" Daryl asked.

Glenn looked at him sideways. Daryl wasn't one to bring up uncomfortable topics but he was bringing it up now, which could only mean one thing. "I doubt it. You know how those two are. Why?"

Daryl bent over a picked up a bottle and rolled it over in his hands. He shrugged his shoulders. "It's weird I guess. Me and Beth havin' sex."

Daryl looked at Glenn who took a deep breath. "Man, ain't none of my business what you and Maggie's sister do. I thought you guys said you were just meant to be friends."

Daryl shrugged his shoulders again. "Beth's idea. Trying this friends with benefits thing." It was a hell of a thing having to bring this up with someone but there was no way in hell he'd be talking to Merle about something like this. Glenn was his only hope of talking through all the shit he was feeling.

Glenn looked at him, surprise playing briefly across his face before becoming impassive again. He had always told Glenn to never play cards. He had a terrible poker face. "You mean like fuck buddies." He couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

Now it was Daryl's turn to look surprised. "That's what I said!"

Glenn looked at him and ran his hand down over his face. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say so he tried to channel his wife. Ultimately she was going to ask him how the conversation outside went anyway. "Me and Maggie always thought you should be together. Like a couple."

Daryl just shook his head. "Can't." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not? You ever tried it?" Glenn asked because he was genuinely curious. He was a romantic sure but he knew Daryl wasn't. But even he could see that Daryl and Beth were perfect for each other.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders again. "I dunno, man. We're just best friends. She's been my best friend forever. Didn't want to ruin it I guess."

Glenn thought for a moment and looked at him and said quietly. "Then why the hell are you sleeping with her."

Daryl looked up in surprise and he couldn't think, in that moment of one good damn reason. Just the one. He was helpless to tell Beth no to anything. He didn't want to think too much on why that was. He just knew it to be true.

* * *

Maggie set to work on putting the pancakes on the griddle while Beth warmed the syrup and sliced fresh strawberries to go on top. "Okay, enough stallin'. Better tell me what's going on with you and Daryl." Maggie turned her back on the pancakes and crossed her arms over her chest.

Beth picked at an imaginary piece of lint on her shorts, wanting to do just about anything but tangle with her sister on this dead horse topic. "We're just havin' sex." Beth looked up at her sister and now that she was telling Maggie about it, it really seemed like a bad idea. But God it felt so good. She wasn't sure she could stop now if she wanted to. Unless Daryl didn't want to do it anymore. She smiled to herself when she thought about how she had woken him up this morning. She didn't hear any complaints then.

"Just sex." Maggie repeated.

"Yes, that's all. We're not dating. Neither of us want that." Beth looked at her sister pointedly. "And I don't need the third degree about my sex life."

Maggie nodded. "That's fair, I guess. But this is Daryl we are talkin' about here. Daryl Dixon. You're aware of that right?"

Beth looked up. "Yes, Mags I know. I don't know how to explain it. It just happened the other night and we decided to just keep it to that. God knows I needed sex. Daryl did too. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement." She looked at Maggie smugly as if that would be the end of that.

Maggie looked at her a little uncertainly and then nodded, turning to flip the pancakes over. She looked back over at Beth. "Just be careful. I love you and Daryl both. I don't want either of you to get hurt. I've been in one of those relationships before. They seldom work out. One person or the other ends up developing feelings. It can get messy." Maggie wrinkled her nose.

Beth knew her sister was right. Things could get messy. But it was Daryl, her best friend. They would talk about things before it ever got to that point. "If things get weird or start getting twisted, then we'll just stop." Beth said.

Maggie put the pancakes on the plate and placed it on the center of the table. She turned back to face Beth. "I know it upset you having Brandon show up here last night."

Beth began to shake her head furiously. "No Maggie, I don't want to talk about him."

Just then they heard shouting from outside. Maggie flipped the switch on the griddle and they both rushed outside to see what the commotion was about.

"Goddamn motherfucker!" Daryl swore as he ran his hand over the jagged scratch in the paint of his truck.

Beth reached his side and when she saw the reason for the commotion, she first felt anger, then fear. It was starting again.

__

_Before_

_Beth got home and was so excited to surprise Brandon with her new haircut. It really wasn't that much different, she had just had some long layers added in and cut about three inches off the length. Maggie had told her she looked older, more sophisticated. One thing about her sister is she knew all the right things to say to make Beth feel better._

_She and Brandon had been fighting lately. Well it wasn't really fighting if the other person couldn't fight back. She knew he got angry and she told herself if it ever got too bad she would just leave him. He had gone too far a couple of times and she had vowed to leave but he had won her back in some fashion. The first time took a few days. This last time it had taken slightly longer at a week. She really hoped that there would not be a third._

_He came in that day though and it was the same thing all over again. He had thrown her against the wall, convinced she had gotten her hair done to impress one of her college "boyfriends". He had sneered and she had gotten in a rise about it. That was quickly replaced by fear and then sheer terror as he started pummeling his fists into her side and once she was down, delivering swift punishing kicks to her ribs._

_She would get out that night barely able to take a breath, three broken ribs being a minor problem compared to her bruised and bloody face. She was having a hard time breathing now in fact and it she felt her lips start to tingle and looked frantically about._

"Beth" Daryl could see the moment she headed into it. She had the same look on her face that she did for several months after she broke up with Brandon when she was plagued by frequent panic attacks. He had helped her through most of them. Maggie did sometimes but Maggie tended to get too emotional, unable to stand to see her sister in so much pain and in such an obvious place of fear.

Maggie and Glenn wandered back to the house, Glenn's arm around a sobbing Maggie, as Daryl eased Beth into him and lowered them both on the ground, holding her on his lap. "You're not there anymore, baby girl." He whispered as she shook and her breathing was uneven and far too rapid.

He took her face in his hands forcing his eyes on the same level with hers. "Look at me" He commanded as her eyes flitted about. "Look at me, Beth, sweetheart." He crooned and smiled at her briefly as her eyes finally connected with his.

It broke his heart as it did back then to see her so broken up, eyes watery and frantic from being pent up inside her own personal hell. He knew what it was like. God knows, he knew.

Looking into her eyes, he spoke softly to her. "Keep your eyes on me. That's right. He can't hurt you now Beth. He's not here. You're safe." Daryl chanted the same mantra over and over again until she finally closed her eyes, her breathing finally having returned to normal. She was crying softly now as was common once she realized she was safe.

After several long heart-constricting minutes, she looked up at him, her expression pained. "Oh Daryl, I'm so sorry." Her shoulders shook with emotion and his heart snapped in two.

"You got nothin' to be sorry for, darlin'." He looked into her eyes and for reasons he would question later he leaned in and pressed the softest of kisses to her warm inviting lip. He pulled back and looked at her. "Why you apologizing?"

"Because of your truck." She continued to cry and he kissed her again. He didn't know why he did it but it made her stop crying each time and as long as it made her stop he was going to continue to do it.

Beth looked at him and marveled at how he could get her through one of these attacks completely unscathed and much better than any of the fancy medicines the doctors had wanted to give her. It certainly didn't hurt that he was kissing her in between murmuring assurances. She was pretty sure it was new as she couldn't remember him doing that before. She was also pretty sure she liked it. Before when she was kissing him she had felt aroused but now the tenderness behind the kisses was so sweet it made her develop an ache deep inside that she wasn't sure she could place. She just knew it felt good. She half wanted to do it again but as she looked at him, she was overcome by an overwhelming affection and hugged him to her. "I love you Daryl."

"Love ya too Beth". He whispered it, almost reverently. It was a tender moment; he just couldn't seem to find the right space for it in his mind.

She pulled back and looked at him. "I really am sorry about your truck."

"It's fine, it's a piece of shit anyway." Daryl waved it off and she grinned at him.

He loved that he was able to make her smile so he continued. "It's true. Might even go scratch it up myself."

She laughed. "Make some designs on it?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, you took art in school, I give you creative license to do what you want." Daryl said, loving seeing her face light up.

Beth's eyes danced. "So I can scratch in Daryl has a nice ass?"

And that was all it took to send the both of them into a fit of laughter that would take them thirty minutes to recover from.

Beth looked up at Daryl and was again amazed at this man and marveled at the fact that no good woman had snatched him up yet. Someday he was going to make a good husband if he could be tamed that is. Beth loved that she got to see all the sides of him that no one else saw. It might have bothered her, it might not, that she thought a little too much about the other side she had recently got to see. The side that was reserved for a lover or spouse. She wasn't sure how she felt about it all. She wasn't sure how she felt about the fact that she loved every single side of him. She would never admit it out loud for everyone to hear and judge, but deep down she knew she never wanted anyone else to see the things she did. Because that would mean him being taken away from her. One thing was certain, her whole life was wrapped up in one Daryl Dixon. It should have scared her but for whatever reason, it made her curious. What the hell was happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? Don't want you to worry. For the most part, this fic will be unlike my others. It will be mostly fluffy. But this part is necessary for the overall cadence of the story. Let me know.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Daryl do the frick and frack and then......feelings.....yep, it's getting a little bit messy now.

Daryl knew he was dreaming. It was the oddest thing being aware of the fact that he was dreaming but watching it play out anyway. It was the summer of the year Beth turned 18. She had just gotten her heart broken by another boy. She had told him that she needed someone like him. A man instead of a boy. And that had planted the seed that had gotten him to thinking he could have anything other than friendship with pretty little Beth Greene, his best friend the world over. He had been pissed at himself the first time he had wayward thoughts about her, thinking how he'd like to hold her in his arms like she deserved. How he wanted to kiss her like those other punks would never figure out how to do.

He remembered how she hadn't spoken to him for nearly two months when he was dating Jenna which had been the biggest disaster of his life. She had thought it was inappropriate that she was only 17. So when Daryl started having feelings for Beth he had pulled away knowing for sure that she would see the love shining in his eyes. He knew it wasn't right. He knew that he'd go to hell for thinking he could have a relationship with her at the age of 24. Crazy thinking. So he'd pulled away for awhile, followed after Merle until that had ridden itself out too. He'd gotten tired of the party life in a hurry.

Then he had met Tiffany and if he had thought Jenna was a disaster then Tiffany was a catastrophe. She had been clingy, needy, possessive and worst of all she had tried to change him. But at first it hadn't been that way. He had thought he felt something for her once but then she ruined it. Crash and burn relationships seemed to be his forte. But he had to be thankful for that one. It had helped him get over Beth. When they had restarted their Friday night friend night, he had realized how much he missed just hanging out with her.

Now in this dream, here he was in love with her, all of 24 years old and she was not even legal and he'd been comforting her after her latest break-up. And instead of holding her at arm's length, he pulled her into his arms and bent her over his arm, sweeping his lips over hers like he meant it. He told her he loved her. He told her he wanted her forever and ever like in all the movies they had ever watched but he would make it real. He would do it for her.

He woke up in a cold sweat, not at all surprised that his dream had taken this turn. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was heading there again. He must have fallen asleep after his shift. He picked up the phone to call Beth, intent on heading over to tell her that they had to put a stop to this. His phone rang in his hand. He smiled to himself thinking she had read his mind.

"You busy?" She sounded a little out of breath.

"Not really. What's up?" He was genuinely curious now.

"I was gonna see if you'd mind coming over. I had the worst possible day. I need to blow off some steam and I thought maybe I could use your assistance with that. Mr. Dixon." She added that last part and giggled.

Daryl felt his dick spasm in his pants at the thought of what she was asking of him. He knew it was going to take everything in him to resist her once he got to her house. "I needed to talk to you anyway. Be there in a bit." He hung up before she could ask him any more questions.

Daryl grabbed his keys and headed out to truck. He grabbed his phone, feeling it vibrating. It was probably Beth calling to have him to pick up something she needed. It had been about a week since the party and they hadn't seen each other since then.

He slid the answer button without giving any thought to who might be on the other end. "Yeah."

"Dixon. It's Martinez. Boss says you gotta come in tomorrow." His friend and coworker sounded nervous as well he should be.

"What the hell man. That's the third time this month! Who called out this time?" Daryl demanded.

"Aw come on man, I don't know. They don't tell me. I don't make the schedules. I just do the dirty work." Martinez bit back.

"Fine. You workin' then?" Daryl asked, resigning himself to his fate.

"Yeah man, guess I'll see ya then." They hung up and Daryl fought the urge to beat in his steering well. He was sick and tired of going in and working on his rare day off. It was good money sure but it wasn't even about that. The place drove him crazy as it was. If they were trying to make him quit, it was fucking working. He hated to go to the place on his regular schedule but when they practically forced him into overtime, he was filled with dread even more. He was wound up so tight when he got to Beth's, he barely registered parking the car.

He walked in the house noting that he was going to have to be more firm about her keeping her doors locked. She looked up in surprise at him walking into the door. She had her glasses perched atop the bridge of her nose, a pencil tucked behind her ear, and a textbook open on her lap.

He strode over to her and removed the textbook from her lap and placing it on the table. He took the pencil from behind her ear, leaning down to nuzzle her neck and press an open mouthed kiss right under her ear. He left the glasses on her face because it was hot as fuck the way she was studying him over the rims. He threw the quilt off her next and reached for the waistband of her sweatpants and yanked them down over her hips, grinning knowingly at her as he noticed she was not wearing any panties. He had the fleeting thought that she should never wear them. They just got in the way of his tongue. He was anxious for her taste and pulled her by the backs of her legs to the end of the sofa propping her ass up on the arm of it so when he knelt between her legs he was in optimum position to do things to her to make her scream.

He put his hand between her knees urging her to spread her legs and he wasn't disappointed when she let them fall open wide exposing her already swollen, dripping pussy to his lustful eyes. As he brought his mouth to her slit, he looked up at her, smiling wickedly. "Somebody got started without me."

She grinned sheepishly. "You caught me. I could hardly wait for you to get here."

Somehow the thought of Beth running her fingers over her swollen pussy lips he was now taunting with his tongue got him all twisted up inside and he growled against her heat as he tongue fucked her until she came all around his mouth, and he lapped up every bit of her juices before trailing kisses all the way up her body, as he simultaneously undid his belt and pants, never taking his eyes off her. He liked seeing this look in her eyes. He liked feeling like he was in control. And he liked seeing her getting excited because that meant she was turned on by his uncharacteristic behavior.

Beth looked up at him and she had never felt so cherished, so revered, so possessed as she did by Daryl in that moment. No one had ever done what he had just done. Coming in and taking charge like he did, taking her book from her and pulling her to the end of the sofa. It was all so animalistic and had excited her to no end and made her instantly wet. The fact that he had called her out on her secret masturbation session right before he arrived just made it that much hotter. And now he here he was undoing his pants and the look on his face had her convinced he was about to fuck her all the way through the sofa and it had her panting with need.

He teased her entrance with the swollen head of his cock and with one swift buck of his hips he thrust himself all the way inside her, bottoming out at her cervix. The angle was exquisite as he grazed that heated part of her inner core and rubbed at her clit at the same time. It was more than she could handle so quickly after just having her other orgasm and she hurtled over that cliff once more, this time more powerful than the last.

Daryl saw it coming and he leaned over further and put both arms behind her, never slowing his rhythm, moving in and out of her, his own knees threatening to buckle under. He gathered her in his arms pulling her flush against him wishing suddenly he had taken the time to take her shirt off. He pressed his nose between her breasts as she rode out her orgasm, her walls clenching around his dick. He held off and slowed down a bit, pulling back and looking down at her so impossibly perfect in his arms. He looked into her eyes, pupils blown completely and seeing her expression, the helpless want mixed with something that looked an awful lot like one of his dreams, he came without warning, releasing himself deep inside her.

He collapsed on top of her, careful to hold his full weight off, catching his breath. It was a few moments later when he realized his mistake. He hadn't given one thought to using a condom this time. What the fuck was wrong with him? He pulled back and looked at her. "Shit, Beth!" He was nearing panic and was trying to pull away from her and she was holding him down.

Beth chuckled realizing immediately the source of his panic. "Daryl it's okay. I got on the pill last month before I even knew we were going to do this. Though we might want to have a discussion about STDs and what not." She smiled up at him as she noticed his face visibly relax.

He rolled them on the sofa so she was lying on top of him. "So I've been with two guys." She smiled at him a little shyly.

He sputtered. "What? Now? We're going to talk about it now?" He had thought this was something they could ease into. He figured she already knew most of what she needed to anyway.

Beth nodded. "Okay so I told you mine. Your turn." She grinned.

Daryl looked at her nervously and swallowed. "I've had two. Tiffany was one." He looked at her begging her to not make him admit the truth. The one thing he had lied to her about. He knew she wouldn't be mad now but he hated to tell her. That she had been right and he had been wrong to do what he did.

Beth looked at him puzzled. "So what? A one night stand?"

Daryl shook his head. "It was Jenna."

"Her?!" Beth's face flamed a bit at that, thinking about that skank with her hands all over Daryl. She didn't like it one bit. She told herself it was because she had treated him so badly. She told herself it was because she hated Jenna anyway and that she was well within her rights to do so. She told herself that it had nothing to do with the fact that she couldn't stand the thought of her hands on him because she didn't want anyone's hands on him. Because he was hers. He had always been hers. She told herself that it wasn't that.

Daryl quirked one eyebrow at the uncharacteristic display of jealousy Beth had just let slip out. He would have laughed but he valued his life. So he nodded instead. "It was all of three times. Before she dumped me for that Marine." Stupid bitch.

"So I've been tested. Have you?" Beth looked at him and wasn't surprised when he nodded his head. She should have figured with his brother's long history of contracting every STD known to man that Daryl would make sure that it wouldn't happen to himself.

Beth looked at him thoughtfully. "So we are both each other's third."

Daryl looked at her uncertainly. "Third what?" He shifted them a bit so she was laying half on and half off him.

"Third lover." She smirked at him.

"Is that what we are?" He could feel his dick already waking back up and wondered if it was always going to be this way with her. Five minutes and he was ready to go again like some eighteen year old.

She shrugged her shoulders at him. "Well sure. I mean. We're friends. But we're lovers. It's kind of perfect if you think about it." She wiggled against him.

He groaned. "Stop it." She didn't stop. In fact, she wiggled about even more, grinding her hip against him and grinning like the she-devil she was. "Dammit Beth, unless you want to go again, you need to quit."

He looked over at her since she was silent and he realized why she was so quiet. She had reached down and started playing with the lips of her pussy. He growled and reached for her the second time of the night and they went for round two. Followed by round three. Which a few hours later was followed by round four, until Daryl had to end up leaving early to get back to his apartment just in time to leave for a very very long shift. "It's gonna be a long day." He thought. But with any luck, it would be another rough day for one of them and they could pick up where they left off. He had since banished all thoughts of telling her he couldn't continue their arrangement because he needed this as much as she did. He didn't question it. He didn't overthink it. For once, he just went with what he wanted.

This pattern continued for the next week. He called her that first night and she came by his place. She had only stayed for a couple of hours but in the first fifteen minutes, he had relieved a weeks' worth of tension. The next night she had called him but he had been waiting at her place. They had barely made it in the house before ripping each other's clothes off.

He called her the following Wednesday wanting to take her out for pizza before they headed back to her place for their usual romp. She had readily agreed but stated they would need to keep it short that night because she had an exam the next day.

Beth had broken down on the phone, determined that school was getting the better of her. Daryl had been so sweet about it. He had told her not to worry and that they'd talk through it at dinner.

Halfway through her second piece of pizza, Beth excused herself and came back looking like she'd lost her best friend.

"What's wrong?" he put his pizza down on his plate concerned by the look he saw on her face.

"It's just not my day. I can't have sex with you tonight." She said looking at him pointedly but Daryl was really clueless about this kind of thing. She knew she'd have to tell him outright that her monthly visitor had arrived.

"I know I went on the pill to help regulate it but it's still an inconvenience." She complained and then groaned because she may as well have been talking to a brick wall. Daryl looked like a fish out of water with her discussion of her monthly cycle. Poor guy looked like he was about to lose it but this was Daryl and she told him everything.

"Jesus Beth do you think you could tell one of your girlfriends or Maggie about this shit?" He flushed. He didn't care if he had known her all through puberty and he knew the very day she had her first period. Shit like this would never be comfortable for him to discuss. It just was one of those things that would never would be his forte. He dealt with it differently, like buying her a cheesecake and looking the other way while she devoured half of it. Or he'd get her heating pad for when she had cramps. He drew the line at buying tampons. He'd buy her gallons of ice cream and a truckload of Midol but he couldn't see himself standing in line a box of tampons in one hand and a girlie magazine in the other. It just didn't fit in his brain that way.

"Come on Daryl. It's not like I can tell them how pissed I am that I can't have sex with you tonight." She moaned.

They had gotten back into the truck at this point and he flipped down his visor, thumbing his way to the C.D. he was looking for. "Who says we can't have sex?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, flashing her a grin. He knew how she felt about it. Just said it wasn't her thing. She wrinkled his nose and he laughed and waited for her reaction as he played the C.D.

As the first strains of Red Red Wine came playing out the speakers she started laughing hysterically. "Oh my god! The period mix C.D. I lost mine." She looked at him and placed her hand on his arm as he shifted gears.

He laughed and pressed to hear the next song, teasing her memory of what was on the C.D., giving blips of "Even Tide" and "Everybody Hurts", Beth groaning in horror with each song. It really was a horrible mix and it was just gross but it had all been done as a joke. He had gotten tired of her moodiness and he'd angrily shouted at her one time that it would be nice to have a fucking signal so he wouldn't accidentally hurt her feelings thereby having her rip him a new one. So she'd screamed that she wouldn't even begin to know what to do to signal what it felt like having your insides ripped out every month.

So he had made the C.D. telling her that she could hum a few bars of any of those songs. It had been his way of apologizing for being a dick about the girly stuff. He had brought her that and a half gallon of chocolate ice cream. It had been their secret ever since.

"Thank you Daryl. You knew exactly how to cheer me up. You're the best." She squeezed his arm and he looked at her then, wondering at this swirl of conflicting emotions in his chest.

"Want me to stop for cheesecake?" He glanced at her and she grinned at him, nodding her head.

He faced the road again and they drove in companionable silence listening to the awful mix of sounds playing out in the cab of his truck. He knew he loved her. Still he wanted to be with her. He liked this thing with her, this thing where they were lovers and friends. Call him stupid but maybe, just maybe he could have both. Maybe he could be here with her, do this with her. This thing where he made love to her again and again and pretended like it was just that. Like it was just sex and that's all. And she would never have to know that his heart was there for the taking. If only she could see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Yes, I shamelessly pulled in the bit from the movie. lol


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Tara go out on the town but she can't get Daryl out of her head.

Daryl sat at the table and checked the roster for today's transfers and noted that he had two coming in later that day.

"Hey man." He greeted Martinez as he came into the office and sat down across from him at their card table turned conference table. State prisons didn't merit much on the government budget he guessed. He nodded at his friend and co-worker.

"Hey. How's your day been so far?" Martinez reached over and swiped a piece of candy out of the bowl Gina, the secretary, kept on the table. She had to fill it often between Daryl and him alone.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "You know how it is man, same shit different day." He looked up and grinned at him.

Martinez sat back suddenly clutching his chest dramatically. "Oh my god, he does have a smile. What's up man? You get you some pussy finally?"

Daryl could tell that Martinez was eating this up, Daryl's uncharacteristic display of happiness. He couldn't help it really. You spend enough time around Beth she tended to influence your outlook on things. But spending time with her, which lately had been nearly every available minute if he thought about it, and making love to her, it gave him all the aspects of a relationship that he needed without actually being in one if that made any goddamn sense at all. It worked great just so long as he was willing to ignore the tug on his heartstrings whenever she was near. It'd been over a week since the night he'd bought her cheesecake so he expected her to call him any day to scratch the itch so to speak. To be truthful, Daryl was looking forward to it.

Daryl shrugged again, not wanting to commit to answer one way or another.

"Has Beth met her yet?" Martinez swiped another piece of candy from the bowl. Everyone knew that he and Beth were great friends and knew also that Beth had to approve of any dating material on Daryl's part. It wasn't meant to be controlling and it actually worked for him because being friends with Beth was not something he was going to be willing to give up, not for anyone. Of course, right now, Daryl wasn't interested in dating anyone else anyway. There was no need. He was perfectly content with things the way they were.

Daryl took his time selecting his piece of candy and took care with unwrapping it while considering his friend's question. The man knew about his and Beth's friendship. He just wasn't sure he wanted him to know anything else. Hell, it was bad enough Maggie and Glenn knew. He'd better keep his mouth shut too. Glenn was just not known for keeping secrets. The door chimed and Gina walked in.

"You boys didn't eat up all the candy again did you?" She fawned over them. She was at least 60 if she was a day but she flirted nonetheless. They all knew she was teasing and they all knew she was too old for most of them but it didn't stop her nonetheless. They all loved her and the spunk she added to the crawling pace of a day spent inside the prison walls.

"No ma'am." They both uttered, like the good Southern boys they had been raised to be. His old man might have been a lot of things but he did demand his boys to respect their elders. He'd beat it into them more than once.

He ended up spitting the candy into the trash can on his way out. Something just didn't taste right about it. He swiped his hand over his brow, feeling like he was hotter and hotter all the sudden. He shook it off and went back to his shift, hoping the ass-wipes from the other prison weren't going to give him too much hell.

* * *

Beth sat in her lecture hall wondering how she was going to possibly make it through another hour of this. She normally enjoyed her classes but she was having difficulty focusing. She attributed it to her schedule, lack of sleep and lack of sex. That was probably the most important. It was as if her body decided that since she had so recently put it through such a drought, it was intent on making up on lost time. It really didn't help that they were going over sexual disorders and reproductive systems. It had her thinking all kinds of things, like all the things she wanted to do with Daryl. She stopped mid-thought, looking up to find that her classmates were disbanding. She glanced to her right, her friend Tara packing up her belongings.

Tara grinned at her. "This is great. I'm treating myself to a night out. You wanna come?"

Beth smiled back. "Yeah, I can't believe Dr. Jones let us out early. That hasn't happened in. Well. Ever." They both laughed. "Where are you going out to?"

She and Tara walked out of the lecture hall and into the lobby of the building. "We usually hit up a couple of places. It's fun. We can dance! Of course, you gotta be okay with hitting the gay scene." She wiggled her hips suggestively and Beth laughed.

"Okay, fine. But I might have to meet you. I have something I need to do first." She hoped Daryl was up for a quickie. She didn't think she could go to a night club, gay, straight or anything else until she had sex. She'd taken care of things herself the past two nights but she knew she needed something more.

"Wanna meet at Pete's before, say around 9:00?" Tara suggested. Pete's was the diner they usually went to for study sessions. Pete didn't mind how long they stayed so long as they cleaned up after they left and at least ordered something now and again, which there was no problem with. Beth sometimes thought she should probably sign over her monthly stipend to Pete for all the meals she ate there.

Beth nodded pulling her phone out as they exited the building. "Sounds great. I'll see you then." Beth flashed Tara a smile as they parted ways.

She shot out a quick text to Daryl before she headed to her apartment.

_You up for a kwik-e tonite? I'd have to make it an early night. Tara wants me to go out with her. – B_

Beth got in her car and began driving. She smiled as she pulled her phone out of her pocket as she entered her apartment.

_You bet. Be at my place 7:30 sharp. Don't wear panties. – D_

Beth grinned wickedly and headed back to her room where she planned on spending the next couple of hours going over the notes from her class and try to figure out what her scattered brain had missed while she was daydreaming about Daryl.

* * *

Beth panted, her face pressed up against the cool of the wall in Daryl's living room. He was behind her, his dick pressing into her backside and she couldn't help but grind herself against him, feeling every slip of his hardness over her skin. She felt his lips on her shoulder and she naturally leaned her head back against him, pressing the tender flesh firmly into his mouth. She needed to feel more of him, just more.

Daryl pressed his lips to her skin, tasting her, sampling her with his tongue until he bit down slightly, his teeth meeting with a satisfying pull on the relatively thin skin there. She gasped and moaned, her head leaning back against his. He grinned against her head as he brought his hand up to the back of her head, forcing it to dip down as he lowered his mouth right over the nape of her neck and sucked hard while reaching around and grabbing hold of one of her perfect tits, slightly pinching her nipple between his thumb and forefinger while pressing his dick into her. It had worked it's way in between her ass cheeks and the resistance against his growing bulge was killing him. He groaned against her ear as she turned around and wound her arms up around his neck, threading her fingers through his hair as she hitched one leg up higher, looping it around his hip, pressing her core to his cock and her lips to his.

Daryl gasped against her mouth as he felt her heat meet with the sensitized skin of his dick sliding a bit, her wetness seeping around him. He groaned as she hitched her hip up further and he reached down and grasped her other thigh, looping the other leg behind his hip and entering her in one fluid movement, both of them crying out.

Beth felt him enter her and she nearly came from just the anticipation combined with the sudden force of him entering her, filling her, completing her in every way she needed. Her body thrummed with her impending orgasm, the deep seated lava seeping its way into her spine and licking up deliciously until it reached her core, pulsing in and out like some kind of beacon and she clung to it as Daryl rocked in and out of her finding his own rhythm. He was getting close to, she could tell as her walls clenched and unclenched and her clit throbbed from aftershocks. She grasped the back of his head and pulled his mouth down to hers, thrusting her tongue inside as she met him thrust for thrust.

He grunted and groaned out the rhythm, staccato and breathy as his eyes rolled back in his head and he finally closed them, pulled under by the weight of his orgasm, fanning over his body like cool over embers as every muscle in his body pulsated. A few more jerky thrusts and he pulled out of her and carefully let her slide down his body, letting her test her legs.

She groaned as he simultaneously laughed and reached back down to have her straddle him back to the bed her legs having completely given out for the moment.

He deposited her on the bed and crawled in beside her. "I'm never going to be able to dance tonight." She complained, massaging her thigh muscles.

He had been about to fish out his pack of smokes but cast that thought aside when he set to coughing in the throes of his laughter at her predicament.

Once he got his cough under control he finally spoke. "You're the one that wanted me to fuck you up against the wall. I was the sensible one." Daryl pointed out but pulled her leg into his lap massaging the muscles he knew would be cramping up after the work out he'd just given them. Hell, they'd both given each other a good work out. The past few weeks was probably more actual cardio than he had gotten in months if he was going to be honest. He lifted weights at the prison five days a week but that did nothing to keep his stamina up for hour long fuck-fests as Beth had come to call them lately.

She nodded. "I know." She moaned. "Oh god, that feels good. I ran this morning too and forgot to eat lunch until 3:00 so I know my body is in dehydration mode. I am going to be the D.D. tonight." Beth vowed.

He quirked his eyebrow at her. She was no alcoholic by any means but she liked to have fun with her friends especially Tara. She and Maggie used to get up to no good on a regular basis but that had slowed down considerably since Glenn and Maggie got married.

"I'm serious. I need to buckle down and study later tonight anyway. Exams are coming whether I like it or not." She pushed her hair out of her face and moved to get up from the bed, running her hands over his stomach. "You're hot babe."

He grinned at her. "Thanks."

She looked at him, tilting her head. "Well you're that kind of hot too." She grinned. "That goes without saying. "You feel hot is what I mean. You feeling okay?" She resisted the urge to feel his forehead. He hated her fawning over him like that. She knew it would take him being on his deathbed before he'd let her coddle him in any way.

""M fine. I'm just tired is all. I'll go to bed right after you leave." He looked at her pointedly, hoping that would be enough to keep her from fussing over him.

She shook her head at him. "One of these days you're gonna have to stop being so macho." She said prissily. She got up and went to the bathroom to freshen up for her night on the town. She was tired now but she knew she'd be in the mood to have fun once she was with Tara.

Right before she walked out the door she walked back over to the bed where Daryl was almost passed out, lying face down. "You okay?" She leaned down and whispered in his ear.

He barely even murmured a response. "Okay but promise me you'll text me if you need me. Daryl!"

He snapped awake. "What?" He frowned against the light coming from the hallway. He really was feeling pretty shitty by this point but he wasn't about to let on to Beth that he was.

"I said text me if you need me. Promise?" It was more a command than a question but Daryl nodded anyway, knowing that anything less would have them in a lockdown debate.

She leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "Get some sleep. I'll text you before bed like always."

She let herself out and made her way Pete's.

* * *

Daryl woke several hours later drenched in sweat, feeling like he was burning from the inside out yet there were chills dancing across his skin making him shiver. He was sick goddammit. He knew it hadn't been his imagination all day but he had tried like hell to deny this. He remembered Beth being there as he reached down to discover he had nothing on. He was glad. He reached for his phone, fighting against the sleep pulling him back under. He was just so hot and his mouth was dry. He didn't remember anything after that thought, not even the text he sent to Beth. Something he would never have done.

* * *

Beth laughed as Tara sidled up next to her at the bar. They had been to three bars already and Beth had been hit on by more girls than guys at this point, not that she was complaining.

"You sure you don't want to go back to the other one." Tara teased.

Beth laughed. "Nope, I think I just want to dance in neutral territory if you don't mind." Beth said as she ordered another soda.

"You can drink Beth. I promise I'll call us both a cab." Tara smiled.

Beth scrunched her face up at that. "It's such a waste of money. Besides I might stop by and check on Daryl. He didn't text me back." Beth didn't need to explain that he was feeling bad when she left. Tara had already heard it. She hated bringing it up now lest she egg on Tara's assumption that something was going on. There was, but she wasn't sure she was ready to tell Tara that or not.

Daryl was her conundrum. He was the best guy friend she had ever had in her entire life. She loved him dearly. He was also the best sex she had ever had. He was amazing in bed and he knew exactly what she needed.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Beth jumped a little at the voice nearly right by her ear. She turned to her left to find a very tall, dark and handsome hunk of guy standing right next to her, leaning on the bar, staring at her intently. Beth looked at his eyes. She could always tell a lot about someone if she just looked at their eyes.

She could hear Tara titter behind her and she fought the urge to turn around and shh her. As she looked into his eyes she almost audibly sighed. They were pretty, a lovely shade of green and hazel with flecks of yellow but despite their hue there was no warmth.

Beth shook her head. "No, but thank you." She offered him a smile and turned back to Tara.

"You have a boyfriend then. It's just a drink." She turned back to face him. "You'd have a coke on a park bench talking to a stranger right. That's all I'm asking for." Tall Handsome said. He was charming, she'd give him that.

"I'm going to run to the restroom. I'll be right back." Beth glanced at Tara's sudden departure and glared at her retreating form. She turned back to her gentleman caller and looked him over. He was definitely easy on the eyes. His hair was dark and the contrast of that with his eyes it made him look a little dark and brooding. She thought of Daryl then. He could be considered dark and brooding. Did that mean she had a type then? She thought on that for a minute, startled, and her thought process was then interrupted.

"So do you come here often?" He winked at her.

Beth groaned at the oldest pickup line in the book and grinned at him. He wasn't so bad. "No my friend dragged me out tonight." She explained, taking a sip of the soda the bartender had just placed in front of her.

"What do you do? Let me guess. You're a model." He said.

"I'm actually a med student." She sighed.

The D.J. had been playing a great mix of music all night. Suddenly the D.J. came on the loud speakers. "Tonight folks we're gonna take it all the way back to 1983." The slightly reggae strains of Red Red Wine filled the place and Beth was hit with a wave of nostalgia.

She murmured "Excuse me." As she took her phone out of her pocket, glancing at the display at the four texts she had evidently received in the last hour.

_Beth I need you. –D_

_Don't feel very good –D_

_Are you there? – D_

_Beth –D_

Beth felt uneasy as Tara came back up to the bar. She looked at her. "Daryl is sick." She knew she was probably being silly but she just felt like there was someplace she was needed. They always said that your doctor instincts would kick in sometimes. She wondered if this was one of those times. She went over in her mind what he would need for a fever. She knew she had the basics because she made him keep it stocked. "I need to go."

Tara looked at her a little uncertainly and then nodded. "Okay, let's go then. I've had a great time already. Need to quit while I'm ahead right?"

Beth nodded and laughed. She turned back to the mystery guy but he had already disappeared. She guessed she had bored him too much. Oh well, she thought, good riddance. She hadn't been looking for anything anyway and Daryl needed her. It was strange how those two things kind of went together but didn't. She wasn't looking for anything. She really wasn't. Why then was it everything reminded her of Daryl?

She let herself in with the key he'd given her long ago. "Daryl." She called out his name as she walked back to his room. He was pretty much in the same position he was in when she left. She walked over to him, noting that his phone was dead. That would explain why he hadn't texted her back.

"Daryl" She gently shook his shoulder to see if he would wake up. She was startled at the height of his temperature. She walked to the bathroom and gathered needed supplies for her first round of treatment.

Taking his temperature it didn't take long for the reading to climb to 103. That was good at least. She was afraid if it was higher she'd have to get him to the hospital. She knew he had a history of seizures a long time ago from the stuff his father used to do, ramming him up against the wall one too many times, his head bearing the brunt of those episodes of abuse. It made her cringe to think about even as she took a damp cloth and sponged him down. Once when Daryl was 16, he had a high fever with the flu that was going around. He had told her his fever had gotten so high that it was near 105 when the school had gotten him to the hospital. He had been in class when he collapsed from having a seizure. It was the last thing that he needed right now and she was determined not to let it happen. She knew it had been a long time since that happened but still, her medical knowledge was warring with her common sense at this late hour. She knew she was probably being overly cautious; it was an occupational hazard she guessed having all this knowledge, but she didn't care. This was Daryl.

She had managed to get him to swallow two fever reducer tablets and now it was a waiting game and keeping him comfortable. She had put a pair of pants on him and that had taken some maneuvering. He was a solid wall of steel when he was awake but unconscious, it was like trying to dead-lift a car.

Beth was also extremely glad that she was familiar with his body as she sponged him down. Even if she was on her way to becoming a doctor and looking at the human body had become clinical for her, again this was Daryl. His skin was blistering hot and he was moaning in his sleep. She hated to think what might have happened if she had just gone on home instead of coming by to check on him.

She went and refreshed her bowl of tepid water and set to her task again. An hour later, a fine sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead and he was feeling noticeably cooler now, though he still thrashed about from time to time. She figured whatever he had, he had picked up at the prison. She knew from her time in school that heavily populated, enclosed areas were a breeding round for germs. She didn't worry about catching it herself. She hadn't been sick since she had the flu a couple of years ago and before that it had been middle school when she had the chicken pox.

She sighed and laid down beside Daryl, careful to keep her distance from him. His body was still emanating heat and he didn't need hers to go along with it.

"Beth." He moaned her name in his sleep and she propped her head up on her elbow, her own eyelids feeling heavier and heavier but she wanted to make sure he didn't need anything else. It was a good thing tomorrow was Saturday. She didn't have class. She was supposed to have study group at 10:00 a.m. but since it was now nearing 5:00 she didn't know if she'd make it or not. She decided she'd get a few hours sleep and then make a decision.

She reached over and smoothed his slightly damp strands of hair back from his forehead. He was much cooler now she noted. His body was probably worn out from the fever burning through it. She continued to stroke his head as it seemed to make him more still when she did so. She studied him sleeping. He was so much more peaceful this way and he looked much younger than his years, all of the furrow in his brow having smoothed out with sleep. He looked relaxed; it was not a look she was accustomed to seeing on him except when they had sex of course but in those moments she was usually in her own zone. She decided the next time they were together she would pay more attention to his facial expressions.

As she continued to softly stroke Daryl's head, her fingers weaving through the slightly damp strands, she thought on the guy at the bar and how she had been comparing him to Daryl. It had been odd how he had popped into her head like he did. Mystery guy had been handsome and sexy but still, he had held little appeal for Beth. She knew he had been hitting on her but she was oddly uninterested. She had also felt a little bit guilty standing and talking to him as if she was somehow betraying Daryl in some way. Which was ridiculous considering they were not really dating. They were just best friends. Best friends who happened to be sleeping together. She sighed. She really needed sleep.

"Beth." His voice was gravelly, a forced whisper. She reached over to the nightstand, grabbing his cup of ice water, as his eyelids fluttered open a bit, closing again. She stilled her movements. Maybe he wasn't really awake. It was hard to tell.

"I'm here Daryl." She whispered back.

"Beth, I need you." Again his eyes flitted open for a second and searched the room but his gaze was unfocused. Her heart clenched a bit at his words.

"I'm here. I'm right here, Daryl." She crooned as she continued to stroke his forehead. She brought the cup to his lips and fit the straw to his mouth, smiling as he sucked in a bit of the liquid. "That's good. Your fever was pretty high. Drink as much as you can."

He took a few swallows without even opening his eyes and then pulled his mouth away from the straw. She sat the cup back on the nightstand. "That's good." She whispered. She was glad he was in this half in and half out state. If he was fully awake, she knew he'd have a fit her making a fuss over him like she was now. She really wasn't doing anything, but he would consider it making a fuss. She hated him being sick but she found, to her surprise, that she really liked taking care of him like this. It made her feel wanted, needed. And he had said he had needed her even if he was in and out of consciousness when he said it. She grinned; semantics. She knew it, but she didn't care.

He was murmuring again as her eyes began to flutter closed and she settled down into the pillows, just lightly stroking his arm now. She could feel herself slightly drifting and she started when she heard his voice again.

"Thank you." His voice was a little stronger but he sounded so much smaller than his big hulking frame let on. She wondered if his mama had ever smoothed the fever from his forehead or if she'd lain with him when he was sick. From the picture he painted of his childhood, she sincerely doubted it and it made her incredibly sad. She leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek before moving back to her side of the bed. This wonderful beautiful man should have someone to take care of him. Should have always had someone taking care of him. He always took such good care of her and she was glad that she was here now so she could return the favor even if he wasn't all the way with it to know about it.

She was suddenly overwhelmed with tenderness for him so much that she felt tears pricking the backs of her eyelids. She didn't know what was going on lately but it seemed that every time she thought of her and Daryl, there was some unnamed force inside of her trying to claw its way out. She felt it now, the strings of her heart being pulled and tugged until her heart clenched in her chest. She looked at him, laying there, his face smoothed out and she realized what it was and her heart something then that it had never done in all her days with Daryl Dixon. It flip-flopped at the sight of him and she recognized the emotion now. It was love. She puzzled at the thought. She knew she loved him. She had always loved him, it was something they told each other all the time so then what was different about this feeling.

Her eyes popped wide open at the thought. It had come out of nowhere, it seemed, but now that it had clawed its way to the surface it was demanding to be dealt with. She reached over and touched his cheek, marveling at the texture of his scruff on her palm. She traced her finger over the stubble and ran her index finger over his parched, dry lips. She was aching to kiss him. Knew it was a bad idea even as she thought it but she needed to know if it was just her imagination. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. There was no answering response except his whisper against her lips, which she couldn't hear but the feeling in her gut, as she settled back against her pillow, was banging around in there and the echo was loud and clear. The knowledge resonated deep within her and fanned out over her entire mind, body, soul and heart. She was hopelessly head over heels in love with her best friend. She was in love with Daryl Dixon.

Even as her heart clenched with the knowledge, it plummeted to her feet. This was not supposed to happen. They were supposed to have an arrangement and now here she was ruining the whole thing by going and doing the one thing that they were not supposed to do. She loved him. No. She was in love with him and now that she realized it, what the hell was she supposed to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you liked it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth gets to daydreaming and Daryl is ALL better. ;)

Chapter 8

Beth tapped her pencil absently on her notepad wondering when the resident she was assigned to would finish talking so they could finish rounds already. She normally was in tune with her mentors when they rounded on patients but right now the only thing Beth was thinking about was Daryl. He had been in bed the past two days, orders of almost Dr. Greene. She smirked to herself. He had been getting more restless the past couple days and he had gotten frisky with her that morning but she had brushed him off, needing to hurry to class. She planned on checking on him after she was done with classes and rounds but right now it didn't seem like they were going to finish up anytime soon. She sighed.

"Ms. Greene, were you going to answer my question today or were you going to wait until the patient developed more symptoms." Dr. Stookey looked at her pointedly and she balked at his question as well as the fact that she had not been paying attention at all.

"Could you repeat the question?" Beth looked at him uncertainly. She knew she was usually his best student and always had a ready hand and a quick answer to anything he asked. He looked at her as if to say I am cutting you a break this one time only. Beth tried not to let her relief show too much.

"I was asking if you knew which of the patient's lab values were the most likely indicator for hepatitis." Dr. Stookey glanced at the nurses' station and back at Beth.

She gave him a curt nod, thankful that he was giving her another chance. He was one of the nicest residents she met so far but she knew he had another side and it was one she didn't wish to cross. She knew there was a pecking order to things, she didn't like it but she knew she had to play by the rules to earn the respect of her higher ups. She rattled off her short answer first and then elaborated just like she normally did and got a nod back from him and they moved on to the next patient.

The rest of her day went relatively smoothly, her lunch consisting of a smoothie downed during her noon lecture and then she spent the rest of the day charting progress notes on the patients she had seen. It was a long, grueling day but finally by 5:30 she was in her car and headed to Daryl's place. She glanced in the rear view mirror making sure she had remembered her bag from her locker at the hospital. She had taken to staying at Daryl's the past couple of nights since he had been so sick that first 24 hours or so and had clearly needed someone there to prompt him to take care of himself. After that she had just lacked the time to go back to her own place.

Beth thought back over the past day or so and her heart did that unexpected little flip flop again at the thought of how she felt about Daryl. She had racked her brain trying to pinpoint a particular time or instance where she had clearly crossed the line in their relationship or even their arrangement. As far as she could tell, she could lay the blame with the morning after the party at Maggie and Glenn's. There was a subtle shift in their relationship that morning, him comforting her, just lowering himself to the ground like he had and pulling her into his lap.

She had been in the worst throes of a panic attack she could remember in a long time but he had been there to pick up the pieces just like always. She struggled to remember a time that Daryl hadn't been there for and was coming up empty. She had the realization the night before that her entire life was wrapped up in Daryl Dixon. She didn't know when or how it really happened; how she had come to think of Daryl as her best friend, her companion, confidante something platonic to something that resembled a forever love. It scared the hell out of her.

She reached over and flipped on the radio, forgetting that she had put in the mix CD the other day. The crooning of "Bleeding Love" finished out. It was the end of the CD. Beth was just getting ready to click the eject button when another song started. She had heard it before but she couldn't remember where. It was Nickelback. She listened to the words.

_  
Don't let it end  
Don't let it end  
Don't ever let it end_

_Well, I've got two tickets to the game  
It'd be great if I could take you to it this Sunday  
And I'll walk you home when the whole thing's done  
If you're there, I don't even care which team won  
We can stop at the coffee shop  
And make fun of the cops in the parking lot  
We can laugh as we both pretend  
That we're not in love and that we're just good friends_

_Well, I'm tired of pretending  
But I'm terrified of it ending  
I know if not for you there's nothing I could do to ever let it end  
And I know you feel the same way  
Cause you told me drunk on your birthday  
And as you pulled to me  
You whispered in my ear, "Don't ever let it end"_

_Later on, we'll cut through the park  
And she can hold my hand, cause she hates the dark  
And we can laugh as we both pretend  
That we're not in love and that we're just good friends_

_Don't let it end  
Don't let it end  
Don't ever let it end_

As she heard the words she put her hand up to her mouth. When had he made this? She was trying to remember and wondered why he had included this song. It didn't really have any bearing on the theme of the rest of the songs on the CD and this song was clearly about being in love with your best friend. There were a million questions that popped into her mind. Did he mean to put it on there? Was he trying to tell her something? She knew even if she got the answer to one question it would only pose a dozen others.

Her hand fluttered nervously to her chest, toying with the necklace she always wore there, the two silver hearts melted into one another. Right now, that's the way her own heart felt. It felt like it had been melted into a force greater than she had ever known. She didn't know what to do about any of this and was scared to death to bring it up to Daryl but maybe if he'd felt this way once, he could feel that way again. Maybe he even felt this way now. But she didn't know what to do about any of it. She was angry with herself for falling for him. She didn't want to ruin their friendship. Daryl might have put this song on the CD but the words of the song pinged against the strings of her heart, pulling them impossibly tighter. She may as well have wrote the damn song herself as much as it resonated within her.

She sighed. What a damn mess she had made of things. Until she could figure out what to do there was only one thing she could think of. She'd just have to make it all about the sex. Pour all her energy into that and keep her heart tucked away. She couldn't handle heartbreak again and she knew if anything happened to her friendship with Daryl, her heart would never recover. No, she'd have to put this away like she did almost everything else.

* * *

Daryl flipped through the channels on the television for the fifteenth time in the past hour, finally chucking the remote at the end of the bed. He needed to get up and do something. He'd been stuck in the bed for two days and Beth had insisted that he stay put. Up to this point, he'd pretty much gone along with it because it was easier than arguing with her stubborn ass but right now he was itching to get out and do something. He got up and threw on a pair of jeans and heard the front door open. Shit, he thought. He had the fucking worst timing. He sighed and sat down on the end of the bed, expecting a full lecture when she came back to the bedroom.

"Well, well, look who's up." She grinned at him from the doorway of the room and he snorted in her direction.

"I'd have been up yesterday but someone was bein' a bossy brat." Daryl grumbled in her general direction. He smirked. He couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from turning up at his insult.

Beth stuck her tongue out at him and walked over to the bed, laying the back of her hand on his forehead, groaning aloud as he ducked his head away.

"Stop." It was a single word and she sighed. Back to this again, she supposed. It was just the way he was; she knew that.

"You are the worst patient I have ever met." She complained, going around the side of the bed to fluff up the pillows.

"Damn right I am. Maybe you should save your bedside manner for all them unsuspectin' guinea pigs at the hospital." He loved teasing her about becoming a doctor. It was one of his favorite things because it always got her all riled up. He was surprised when he didn't get her usual response.

She looked at him demurely. "You wouldn't know the first thing about my bedside manner, Mr. Dixon." She challenged.

He raised his eyebrows at her and felt his cock grow hard, her calling him by his surname, especially with the innuendo attached to it. "Well why don't you tell me about it, Dr. Greene." He smirked at her and her bright baby blues flashed at his. He was expecting her to take her defensive stance but instead she was playing along with him. He found he liked it.

She walked towards him purposefully, the unmistakable signs of lust clearly displayed in her eyes. "It'd be better if I showed you Mr. Dixon."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Thought you said I wasn't to participate in any contact sports, doctor." He was directly referring to their almost lovemaking session that morning. She had refused stating that he needed to rest or some bullshit. Somehow his cock didn't get the memo though because he was aching to bury himself in her.

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. "Well it's a good thing that you won't have to exert yourself Mr. Dixon." She said, taking her pointer finger and pressing it to his chest, applying just a slight amount of pressure to coax him to lie back even as her other hand skimmed down over his bare chest and she turned it at the last minute palming his dick through his jeans. "This will be more of an oral lesson."

"Oh so it's lessons we're doing now?" Daryl smirked. He loved this banter with her and could keep it up all day. He was up for the challenge.

She leered at him suggestively as she worked the button on his pants. "Oh you have no idea, Mr. Dixon. I can teach you all kinds of things." He sucked in a breath as she unzipped his pants and freed his cock straining at the zipper. She knelt beside him on the bed and he lifted his hips to help her remove his jeans and boxers from his body. She looked at him, flashing her eyes at him wickedly, feeling very wanton as she took his length in her hand and pumped her wrist up and down a few times feeling her skin slide against his velvety hardness. She ran her thumb over the tip, feeling the pre-cum spread out over the head of his dick. Her eyes met his as she worked her hands on him. He was watching her, his eyes drawn half closed with passion. Beth could barely make out his expression but from the soft pants of breath coming from his partly open mouth and the groan that fell from his lips intermittently, she knew he was highly anticipating her next move.

Still she drew it out as much as she could, prolonging the inevitable moment and then she finally wrapped her lips around the head of his cock, pulling him into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the sensitive spot on the underside of his hardness. She felt him thread his fingers through her hair, working his fingers down to the hair tie, freeing up the blonde mane as it fell forwards over her eyes. He was quick to gather it up in his hands, holding it at the base of her scalp as she worked her mouth over him, taking him all the way in with each bob of her head. Going down on a guy had never really been something she actually enjoyed but with Daryl, she found she wanted to do everything for him. She looked up at him now, his head thrown back as he gave himself over to the pleasure she was creating with her mouth.

Beth's mouth could only be described as one thing; heaven. The warmth and wetness of her lips wrapped around his cock had him pulsing towards the edge and he was nowhere near ready for it. He groaned and pulled her head back just a little by giving a slight tug on her hair. She popped his dick out of her mouth and turned to look up at him curiously.

"I want you to sit on my face." His voice was gruff, commanding. Her mouth parted in an involuntary 'o' at the implications of his words and her eyes felt impossibly heavy all the sudden. She moved off the bed and looked right at him as she pulled her shirt off along with her tank top. She moved her hands to the drawstring at the waist of her scrubs and untied them and slid them from her body. She slipped off her panties, letting them dangle from a fingertip before letting them fall to the floor. Daryl sat up then and motioned for her to turn around.

She complied and she felt his fingers, deliciously rough on her back, deftly unsnapping her bra. She gasped and arched into him as she felt his lips meet with the skin there even as his hands came around both her ribs, skimming over the surface and palming her breasts, pulling her back against him as he continued to spread kisses up and down her spine.

Daryl let his tongue rove over the surface of her spine and kneaded her breasts, pulling his hands off to encircle her nipple between his thumb and forefinger on each side, pulling outward slightly and feeling her gasp as she arched her back against his mouth. He moved his one hand to her elbow and spun her around to face him. He laid back on the bed.

"Come here." He commanded.

Beth looked at him, all the sudden overcome by a feeling of shyness. He'd gone down on her before so she didn't know why she was feeling so reticent about this. There was something decidedly different about sitting on his face and knowing that she was in control of placing his lips on the most sensitive, intimate part of her body. It imparted a trust that she didn't know she had for him until this moment. She moved up to where his head was almost flush with the headboard and straddled his face, bringing her hands up to grasp the metal slats on the wrought iron headboard as she settled herself over him. She could feel his breath on her ass and she gasped as his hands spread her apart. Her legs started to tremble immediately upon him thrusting his tongue deep into her pussy.

Daryl didn't know he possessed the balls to just come right out and ask Beth to sit on his face but he did it nonetheless. His dick pulsed against his leg as she straddled him and his eyes rested on the already swollen lips of her pussy, dripping with want and all for him. He lapped up her juices as she settled her cunt over his lips and she ground herself down into him. He reached his hands up to cup her ass and lifted her off just a little to work his hand in between them, thrusting two fingers in her even as he fastened his lips over her clit. Her hips writhed in time to the rhythm he had set for his tongue. He smiled against her pussy as he heard a string of curses erupt from her mouth and he could feel her leg muscles trembling as she fought for control of her breathing. Her hips rocked back and forth over his mouth and his tongue lapped and laved at the fresh spurt of juices and she cried out his name. "Daryl!"

As soon as he felt sure she had come down from her release he lifted her ass off of him and flipped her over in one fluid movement, fully intending to take her from behind this time.

"Daryl." He had never heard this tone of voice from her. It was a soft spoken plea. "I need.-" She broke off. She turned over to face him, rolling her body under his, her fingers coming up between them to gently run her fingers through his chest hair.

He looked down at her and her eyes met his, the crystalline blue of hers pulling him in and he was lost in their depths. He had always thought she had the most expressive eyes and it was one of his favorite things about her besides her smile. "What do ya need, baby?" He stroke his thumb over her bottom lip. He didn't care what it was she asked for; he'd give it to her. He was that far gone, both physically and emotionally.

"I need to see your face." Beth looked at him uncertainly. She hoped that was vague enough. He nodded his head at her and dipped down slanting his lips over hers. Beth sighed into his mouth as his tongue entered hers, licking the insides of her mouth, teasing her tongue. He sucked her bottom lip between his and pulled gently, their mouths coming apart and he rested his forehead against hers. She didn't know how to explain what she needed right now, but she guessed if she had to assign one word to it, it was tenderness.

Beth spread her legs wide for him and he settled himself between them, feeling his cock press against her opening and his hips were begging to snap forward and bury himself in her but he got the feeling that Beth needed something a little bit more than just urgent fucking. Hell if he was going to question it either. He brought one hand up to the side of her face stroking his thumb over her cheek. She turned her head into his palm and pressed a kiss to the center of his hand.

It was all unspoken now and the energy between them was palpably changed. It might have started out as a lighthearted romp but right now, it was anything but. It was intense and needy and achingly slow. Beth looked at him and his eyes met hers. They didn't say anything with their lips but Beth read the passion in his eyes. She closed her eyes for a moment.

"I need you inside me, Daryl." She breathed. "Now." Her voice was raspy and she barely recognized herself. But she didn't care. She needed him inside her, it was an impossible ache that demanded to be recognized only hell if she could place it. She needed. More. Just more of him.

Daryl grasped his length in his hand and positioned himself at her opening, teasing the head and coating it in her juices. He groaned at how wet she was. He flicked his eyes up to hers wanting to see that look of relief, want, and pleasure when he entered her. Her gaze back was implicit trust as he slid into her like they were two perfect pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, both of them moaning at the exquisite friction.

Daryl looked down at Beth and he knew he shouldn't but he let himself get lost in her, just this once. With his cock buried deep in her sweet pussy and her name on his lips. Instead, guided by some unseen force, he found her hand right by her hip on the bed and intertwined their fingers as he pulsed in and out of her. "Beth." Her name fell from his lips almost without his permission. 

Beth had never felt safer or more satisfied than she did in that moment, Daryl sliding in and out of her, filling her completely on each thrust. He never broke eye contact with her as if sensing that this was exactly what she needed. But when he laced their fingers together and held her hand like they were two star-crossed lovers making every second count, the control on her heartstrings vanished, leaving her heart to flip flip around like a fish out of water. His eyes drank her in and she let herself get lost in his stormy gaze.

He kept up an agonizing rhythm only letting it build at the end when she was nearing her climax. She gripped his hand tighter and her eyes closed involuntarily as her orgasm crashed over her. She felt him follow her seconds later, his cock pulsating in time deep inside her, his hot seed spilling into her.

When he pulled out of her a few moments later, their breathing still raspy and uneven, he gathered her in his arms. She sighed contentedly against his chest and her eyes felt heavier than they had in a long time.

Daryl didn't say a word. Beth didn't either. While he would have normally thought it odd, he knew whatever had just happened was something that neither of them wanted to dissect at the moment. He felt the deepest sense of home when she laid her head on his chest, nestling in that familiar spot that it seemed God himself had carved out just for her in the crook of his arm. He felt her breathing even out and as he felt her inhale deeply and relax completely against him, he finally felt like he could relax his own body. He took the liberty of turning his lips into her hair and pressed a kiss to her, breathing her in. She smelled like strawberries and honey and musk of sex and it was a mind-numbing combination.

He pulled back to look at her, letting her head fall onto the pillow beside him, loving how even asleep her cheeks were still flushed from their lovemaking. He loved knowing that he had put that color in her face.

She stirred beside him and she opened her mouth. What she said next struck him hard, like a punch in the gut and he felt the air rush out. "I love you." She sighed and settled closer to him, stretching her arm over his abdomen and curling her fingers around him like she never meant to let go.

He didn't even think about it. "I love you too." The whisper fell from his lips faster than he could think about the implications of the situation. He didn't know what just happened or if she was even awake but he knew one thing for sure. There was no turning back from whatever they were to each other now. Not for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you guys think? Thanks so much for everyone that is reading and reviewing this story!


	9. Chapter 9

Daryl's eyes popped open at the sound of the most obnoxious noise on the planet. He blinked his eyes at the light coming through his blinds. He was disoriented to the time of day and reached for the offending source of the ungodly sound, otherwise known as his phone.

"Hello?" His voice sounded raspy, even to him. Whatever plague had befallen him did a number on his lungs worse than his smokes ever had.

"Daryl, it's me. I think I left my jump drive there. In my purse." Beth's voice was that hummingbird frantic it always got when she got all worked up about something.

"How is it you don't have your purse?" It seemed like logical reasoning to Daryl, especially with as sleep-addled as his brain felt right now.

She sighed loudly on the other end. "I didn't take it. I was trying to conserve energy, plus I still only have two hands and a laptop bag, purse, book bag and gym bag are a bit much to manage."

"Okay so I'm guessin' you need me to bring it to ya." Daryl unsuccessfully stifled a yawn.

"Oh my god, you were still sleeping. I told ya to rest and here I go waking you up. I'm going to make a terrible doctor." Beth sounded near tears.

"Stop. You're gonna make a great doctor, Beth." He hated when she did this to herself. "I'll bring it to you. I was getting up anyway." The small lie didn't even register a blip when it came to considering how it seemed to calm her instantly.

"Really? Oh god, you'd be saving my life. I owe ya one." Beth said and she then explained where he could find the jump drive in the purse.

Her voice came down at least two octaves so Daryl couldn't resist his comment. "Owe me one huh? I'll keep that in mind." Daryl grinned into the phone.

He heard the girly laugh on the other end and it made him actually smile. "Yeah I just bet you will. Be careful. But hurry."

"Hold ya horses. Be there as quick as I can." Daryl grinned and hung up the phone and spotted her purse on the chair across the room. He was glad Merle wasn't around right now to see this. He could just hear the jokes now.

"Woo-wee baby brother, now that purse matches your shoes just right. She got you pussy whipped that one." His brother, ever the linguist would have Daryl spitting nails in no time.

He dressed quickly and started his trip to her usual location, the coffee shop across town. Her group had been meeting there for the past several months. He'd never had to bring anything to her before but he knew where it was.

She had stayed with him again last night, really out of convenience sake than anything else. She'd been so busy with classes and rounds since he'd been sick that at the end of a day it just made more sense for her to fall in the bed and sleep than to move her stuff back to her apartment. Of course, more often than not falling into the bed earned her anything but sleep but that was beside the point. Life with Beth had gotten interesting to say the least. Sometimes it was hard for him to imagine a time when things weren't the way they were right now. He didn't know what it meant. He just went with it.

* * *

Beth tapped her foot waiting for Daryl to arrive. He'd met some of her group before but never all of them at once. She wanted to be sure that he wouldn't be too awfully embarrassed. Why was she so nervous all the sudden? When she was with Daryl she didn't think anything of the time they spent together but it seemed more and more lately when they were apart, she started to question every single thing. It was annoying to say the least.

Daryl walked in a few minutes later when everyone had strayed way off the topic of the endocrine system to who was dating who in their class.

"Who are you dating Beth?" Came Cindy's question right when Daryl walked up.

Beth looked up at Daryl suddenly unsure of what to say and back at Cindy when she heard Eric pipe up from beside her. "I keep telling her she should date me."

Beth laughed good-naturedly. She knew he didn't really mean anything by it. She knew he had a crush on her and so far he'd been a total gentleman. She had tried to let him know that she wasn't interested but he wasn't really taking the hint. He was a really nice guy but he just wasn't her type.

She was sitting on the outside and Daryl walked up beside her right when Eric decided to put his hand on her arm on the table and Beth pulled it away, a little annoyed that he couldn't seem to get the picture here. She didn't miss Daryl's eyes dart down and back up again. He could probably see her discomfort; he was good about that sort of thing.

"Here's the drive." She held out her hand and he pressed it into her palm.

"Thanks." She looked him up and down. "You should go back to bed. You still look pale." She whispered it so the others wouldn't hear. She knew he hated it.

"Are you guys dating?" Cindy piped up with a gasp from across the table. Beth groaned inwardly. She didn[t want to have to answer this question.

Daryl answered for her. "We're just friends. Good friends." He smiled at her and she met his eyes. "I'm fine by the way. I think I'm cured." He smirked at her and she knew he was referring to the role play romp they had shared the morning before and had reenacted just last night.

Beth grinned at him then looked at her friends around the table. "This is Daryl you guys. We've known each other practically all our lives." A few introductions were made between those he hadn't met before.

Eric seemed to visibly relax at that and Beth didn't know why but it got on her last nerve him sitting back like it was nothing big. As if he had a right to judge her friends. What the hell was wrong with her?

Daryl felt like a whore in church all those eyes on him and him not knowing what to say so he opted for the easy way out. "I'm gonna go. I'll see you later?" He phrased it as a question. He reached a hand out to smooth it over the back of her head and stopped his hand in mid air and reached behind his head to rub at his neck muscles. Jesus had he really been about to lovingly stroke Beth's hair? And in front of all her friends?

"Yeah I'll see you later." She smiled watching him leave wishing they were alone so she could have some more sexy banter with him.

"I'll be right back." Eric said from beside her, nudging her thigh a bit with his own. She got up, absently watching Daryl. She watched Eric's retreating back with narrowed eyes as he headed out the same door Daryl had just exited.

Daryl got to his car and wanted to kick himself a thousand times over for agreeing to bring her the stupid drive. He could have done without all those rich bitch snobs looking down at him especially the handsy dude at Beth's side. He had met him before and didn't like him then either. Daryl's first impression of someone was usually one that stick and this guy was no exception. He was a douche through and through, Daryl could tell.

"Hey wait up man." The voice of his thoughts came from behind him and he turned to face him right as he reached his truck.

Daryl didn't speak, just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Was just wondering why you haven't asked Beth out if you've known her since you all were young. Beth didn't say if you were gay or not."

The guy had balls, Daryl would give him that. He clenched his jaw. "Don't know she'd tell you anything about me at all. Since it wouldn't be none of your business."

The guy sneered. "Oh but it is my business." His tune sure had changed fast, Daryl thought. "I plan on wearing down her argument that we are just friends. It's what she told you awhile too right."

Daryl looked at the guy and never had he felt the urge to punch something so badly in his entire life. He figured if he was the old Daryl he might think this guy's face was as good a place to start punching things as any. "Like I said, what Beth says or doesn't say to me ain't none of your business."

"It might not be now, Daryl." The guy drawled his name. "But it will be. See. Girls like Beth marry guys like me. I'm her end game buddy." He reached over to his car which was apparently parked next to his truck and got out a tiny envelope and stuck it in his pocket. It all clicked into place then. Guy was a cokehead. He'd seen Merle strung out on it enough to know the signs. In fact he was surprised he hadn't zeroed in on it immediately. "Guys like you don't even register in her future. You're just the guy she fucks once in a while."

"Eric!" Beth's voice came from behind both of them. She had her hands on her hips standing just a few feet from Daryl.

Eric had that deer caught in the headlights look about him and he stammered some kind of excuse and slinked back into the coffee house. Daryl watched him go like the slime he was wishing the whole while that he had punched him when he had the chance.

"Daryl I'm sorry." Beth began, running her hand through her hair. "He's a jerk." She didn't know how much of a jerk he was until that moment and that sucked, but still, Daryl hadn't deserved to hear any of that.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders and then met her eyes. The hard set of her jaw told her she had a hell of a fight ahead of her. "We ain't anything to each other Beth. You could date him if you wanted."

Beth rolled her eyes and let the air puff out of her. "I don't want to date him. He's an ass." She leveled her gaze at Daryl taking in his stormy blues.

"Well you can date someone else then." He challenged.

Beth's eyes flashed to his. "Well you could too. You could date someone else." Two could play at this game, she thought.

"Maybe I will." Daryl didn't mean for it to slip out but it did just the same. Her eyes had already gotten that silvery quality to them, like steel on flint and now they were even more so.

Beth opened her mouth to speak and no words came out for a moment.

"Or." Daryl stopped himself.

Beth looked at him hopefully when he said that and then waited expectantly. "Or what?" She urged. She realized with frustration that she was almost willing him to speak.

"Date me." He said it softly. Two words that held so much meaning and caused the air between them to snap with electricity. Beth could feel it palpable between them. Daryl looked away and then down at his feet as he shoved his hands deep in his pockets.

The silence was unbearable, deafening even, with all the ringing that was going on in Beth's ears. "Okay." She couldn't believe she had said it and she held her breath waiting on him to look up.

Daryl's eyes flashed up to hers full of hope and something that looked a little like fear. It didn't take much, just the flick of his wrist and he pulled on her shirt just enough so his other hand could grip her hip and pull her against him as he leaned against his truck. He put his other hand on the side of her neck, rubbing his thumb up and down over the column of her throat as he searched her gaze. She was looking up at him with her eyes full of trust.

He dipped his head down and caught his lips with hers, molding himself to her and slipping his tongue inside her waiting mouth and feeling himself getting hard just by kissing her. He pulled away reluctantly to look at her, letting his hand come to rest on her shoulder, letting his fingers play with her hair.

"What you ain't got nothin' to say now?" He teased.

She looked up at him not entirely sure what to say at this point. She pulled a page out of the book of Daryl Dixon and shrugged her shoulders. "Just no mushy stuff."

Daryl laughed. "Mushy huh?" He knew she was referring to. The stuff she made fun of all the time on the movies they watched together. The hearts. The candy. The flowers. All the cliché stuff she said didn't mean anything when the person who gave them turned around and hurt them in the end. She was jaded, his Beth. But with all the shit she'd been put through he understood why she felt that way.

He dipped his head to hers and kissed her softly and pulled away. "Is this mushy stuff?" he whispered then pressed a kiss to her cheek. He whispered in her ear. "Or this?" He pressed a kiss to her neck just below her earlobe. He heard her sigh. He raised his head back up and met her gaze.

Beth looked up at him and shook her head not quite believing that she was agreeing to this but it was the only thing that made sense to her in the moment. "No that's just fine." She grinned.

She wasn't sure where this was going but she knew she didn't want to be with anyone else and she likewise didn't want Daryl dating other women either. "So do we talk about this? Work out some arrangement or what?" Beth asked. She needed a game plan.

Daryl reached down to her hips, easily finding the belt loops on her tight jeans and pulled her against him more fully dipping his head down but not meeting her lips for a few long seconds. Beth's breaths were staccato and frantic with his swift move but no words were spoken and the action hung like a breath between them. Daryl let it soak in that he wanted her as much as he did. Their breath now coming in pants, he fit his lips over hers and kissed her hungrily. Then softer and softer until their lips were barely meeting. His heart was beating so fast he was positive she could hear it. Then he relaxed his grip on her belt loops and snaked his hands around her and joined his hands loosely at the center of her back. He looked down at her and let himself smile at her.

"Woman why do ya have to have a plan for everythin'. Let's just see what happens." He was content with that and he needed her to be content with it too. He brushed his lips softly over hers, letting them rest against her for a moment, suckling her lower lip slowly, and then pulled back again.

Beth looked up at Daryl after his lips left hers, feeling warm and sluggish and hazy. "See what happens." She echoed his words. "Okay." She murmured as she tilted her face up to his.

"Okay." He echoed. He closed his eyes and savored the moment. Just before his lips met hers again he heard her unmistakable sigh and his heart echoed her response. He was in deep. Deeper than ever before but there was one thing different. She felt something. He knew it wasn't something he was imagining and he meant to find out what it was. But first things first. Right now the only thing he wanted to do was kiss his girl. So he did. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure and tell me what ya think. ;)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a getaway. Who's coming with?

Beth couldn't believe that the term was almost over. She had her final exam in an hour and she swore it had been the longest term of her medical school career so far or at least it seemed that way. She had a break over the next week before the following one started and all she wanted to do was sleep for a year. She wished there was some way she could get away for a few days. There was no way though. She had to get prepared for the next term and her apartment really needed cleaned and organized. She sighed. No vacation; if she buckled down hard maybe she could squeeze in a long weekend at the beach next summer.

Beth's phone rang and she reached over to her backpack and picked it up, grinning as she glanced at the display.

"Hey there sexy." She purred into the phone.

"Hey yourself." Daryl's deep voice came through the phone and Beth's senses were set on fire instantly. What that man does to her, she thought. "I'm on my way to your place. Just wanted to tell you good luck on your exam."

"Thanks!" She beamed, pleased that he had remembered and that he had made an effort to pick up the phone to call. She knew he was at work too. "I'm so tired." She breathed into the phone. "And my head is starting to hurt."

"Just go ace your test, like I know you'll do and I will make ya forget that headache when ya come home." Daryl's voice dropped a full octave at the end and Beth's heart skipped a beat even as she felt that familiar pulse of desire thrum through her veins at his words.

"Now that's an offer I can't refuse. See you in a while." She clicked to end the call and mentally prepared herself for the upcoming exam. She had prepared well but she still got nervous.

* * *

Daryl flipped through the channels a third time as he glanced at the clock on the DVR display. Yep, time was standing still alright. If she hadn't either called or walked through the door in the next fifteen minutes, he was going to go look for her himself. By his calculations she should have been home at least an hour ago.

Her key rattled in the door and he was off the sofa before she could even turn the knob. He was just about to launch into a lecture when he took in the look on her face. She had been crying. He held out his arms as she crumpled into them. He kicked the door closed with his foot as he led her to the sofa, Beth's sobbing form shaking in his arms. He eased her onto the cushion and held her against him, whispering to her. He wasn't sure of the words, he just strung together a cadence of "It's okay" even if he didn't know that it would be. He figured he had been telling her as much as she had been telling him for most of their lives.

He let her cry out the bulk of her tears, whispering assurances and caressing her back softly and slowly. Once she had spent herself on emotion, she pulled back to look at him and he had to smile at the picture she made. Her blonde hair had wisped itself right out of the confines of her hair tie, her nose was ruby red and her face was wet with a mixture of tears and snot, a mess quite frankly. A beautiful mess, he thought. He brought his hand up to her face and let his fingers come to rest against her cheek, rubbing the pad of his thumb along her jawline. "You're fuckin' beautiful, you know that?"

Beth snorted in a very unladylike manner. "You must need your eyes checked."

He looked at her pointedly. "Just had my work physical last week. Doc says my visions' perfect."

She mock glared at him and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile. "Thought I was your doctor."

Daryl chuckled lowly. "You are, don't worry." He assured her. "You okay?"

Beth looked at him, her eyes full of doubt and worry. "I think I just failed out of medical school." She admitted and the tears sprung forth again.

Beth reached up and furiously wiped at her eyes. Knowing the physicality of human emotion did nothing to help her understand why it always came about at inopportune times.

"You've said it before ya know." Daryl pointed out. "And ya haven't yet," he added.

Beth nodded, conceding that he had a point. "I know. But this time, I really think I did. I overthought the questions and even changed some of my answers at the last minute." She bit her lower lip. It was the one thing that was always her downfall, second guessing herself. She wrung her hands in her lap.

Daryl studied the way she was wringing her hands over and over. She needed to relax. "We need to take a vacation." He declared.

Beth looked at him in surprise and sniffed back her tears. "I was thinking the same thing, but I can't."

"Why can't you? I'm off the next four days. I bet I can get someone to cover a fifth. We could go to the beach." Daryl said, sitting up straighter, letting the idea take shape in his head. It was really something they both needed badly.

"But I have to get ready for the next term." Beth protested weakly.

Daryl shook his head. "Bullshit. You can do that when you get back."

"But we don't have reservations. People don't just pick up and go to the beach on a whim."

"Sure they do. What about your Dad's brother's place?" Daryl said.

Beth looked at Daryl for a long minute, suddenly all out of arguments. "You'd make a good attorney." She couldn't help the smile that crept up on her as she watched him watching her, his face full of concern and she flashed it at him as she sniffed back her tears for good this time. "I'll call my uncle."

* * *

Her uncle Marshall was her father's polar opposite. Where Hershel embraced the ways of the Bible after their father had beaten out every bit of self-esteem out of his sons, Marshall had embraced the ways of the world. He had gone into law and was currently a retired corporate attorney. He and his wife kept the beach house on Tybee Island mostly for reasons just like Beth and Daryl were using it this weekend, for family getaways. Marshall had told her that she was in luck, they had just left the cottage the week prior and it was completely ready for guests.

As Daryl turned into the drive leading up into the cottage, the sun shone brightly upon the sand and beyond that and the azure skies met with the indigo of the Atlantic. Whitecaps dotted the surface of the horizon in the distance and as Beth gazed out the window she could hardly wait to hit the beach. Daryl reached over and squeezed her knee as he pulled into the driveway at the prompting of the GPS. "Ready to get some R&R?"

Beth turned her head to look at him as he removed her hand from his knee to put his truck into park. They got out and stretched her legs and Beth took a look at the cottage. "This place brings back a lot of memories. I spent about half my childhood summers here." She mused as Daryl removed their bags from the back of the truck and carried them up the wide staircase leading to the covered porch that wrapped itself around the entirety of the two story cottage. It was similar to the others in the beachfront community where all the houses were painted a pastel hue that reminded Beth very much of sidewalk chalk on a clear summer day. This particular cottage was a sunny yellow with white storm shutters and something about the house just made her bubble up with happiness as they crossed the wide expansive porch to the main entrance.

"It'd be a great place to grow up." Daryl mused, dropping the bags inside the door. He liked the thought of her growing up in a place like this, little girl with blonde pigtails running through the sand during the day and playing with her dolls on the porch at night.

Beth was just about to walk away from him and he reached out and grabbed her hand, linking their fingers together and gave her hand a sharp tug, kicking the door shut with his foot in the process.

Beth squealed as Daryl captured her hand and pulled her quickly into his arms and immediately flush with his rock hard body. She turned up her face to his, feeling his breath warm on her face. She let her eyes flutter closed as his lips met hers. It was the softest hint of a kiss, achingly tender as Daryl let go of her hand and brought one hand up to the back of her head, threading his fingers through her hair. The other hand came up to her hip and his fingers pressed in lightly in the curve where her shirt had ridden up, exposing a wide expanse of skin. As he deepened the kiss, his fingers dug in a little firmer at her hips as he stepped his feet forward a bit, her pelvis meeting his in delicious friction.

Beth's brought her hands up to his chest, her fingers gripping his shirt and pulling him even closer as his tongue delved into her mouth, licking, tasting, and sampling, stealing every bit of breath from her body as her blood pulsed with need. She panted heavily as his hands came all the way around her and his fingers splayed across her lower back, pressing her even more fully against him. Then all at once he pulled away, leaving her trembling with need.

"Best get changed Greene. Gotta go work on my tan." He smirked at her as he left her standing in the middle of the living room, watching as he picked up the bags again. He winked at her. "Get a move on. Day's a wastin'."

She gaped at him. "Are you kidding me? Tease." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and headed to the bedroom, grabbing her bag from him on the way.

Daryl watched the way she swished her hips down the hall and followed her, chuckling low. He was going to pay for that later he knew, but he wasn't worried. He was getting to know how to handle her pretty well. He quickly changed into his trunks while Beth did whatever it was girls did to get beach ready in the bathroom. He wandered over to the doorway to watch her and she was busy pulling her hair up into a ponytail, the long blonde tresses being unruly as usual. The look on her face was concentrated and her perfect bow-shaped mouth turned up in a smile as she glimpsed him watching her in the mirror. He took in her lithe form, all curves of creamy skin that begged to be explored and he wondered how he had missed this on a daily basis; how stunningly beautiful she was. He could easily see him and Beth years from now and something like this would still be special to him, something as simple as watching her get dressed.

Beth finally finished fixing her hair so it wouldn't fly about so much in the beach wind and turned to smooth her shorts down over her bikini bottoms. As if sensing that he had not moved from his spot, Beth's eyes came up to meet his where he stood watching her.

"What'cha thinking about?" Beth asked softly. She couldn't place the look in Daryl's eyes but it was almost unsettling the way he was intently looking at her with an almost aching tenderness.

Daryl shook his head slightly to shake his thoughts loose, all jumbled as they were thinking about Beth in the domesticated sense. "Just thinkin' how much I like lookin' at ya. You're fuckin' beautiful."

Beth smiled softly at him and walked the short distance to the doorway where he leaned against the frame, arms crossed over his chest. He didn't move a muscle as she came closer to him. "Well you're looking pretty sexy yourself." She teased as she skimmed her hands down over his stomach, fingers barely touching him under his t-shirt and then, while gazing in his lust-driven eyes, she palmed his crotch with her hand. "Very sexy." She whispered and then turned her body sideways and slipped past him, grabbing her beach bag.

"Come on Dixon, the day's a waitin'." She threw his words back at him as she looked over her shoulder, giggling at the image he created, reaching down to adjust the result of her teasing fingers.

"You're playin' with fire little girl." He growled as he grabbed a towel off the chair in the bedroom and headed after her out the door.

"I'm not scared." She taunted from ahead of him as they stepped onto the sand.

They walked the short distance to the beach and dropped their stuff on the sand. Daryl reached into her bag and spread out the beach blanket they had brought with them.

"Let's go check the water." Beth said as Daryl dusted the sand off his hands and grabbed her hand, threading their fingers together as they approached the water lapping at the shore.

Beth sighed as the cool water washed over her feet. "This was a great idea." She said turning towards him. She couldn't quite explain the urge she had to be near him constantly but it was like she couldn't stop touching him. She reached down and grabbed his other hand and looked up at him, the wind whipping through his hair. She couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses but his expression mirrored her own. She dropped his hands and wound her arms up around his neck, turning her face towards his and sighing into his mouth as his lips met hers. It was the softest, merest hint of a kiss but it surged through Beth in a way that she couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Stick around Greene, I'm full of great ideas." He murmured against her lips. He marveled at how kissing her just made everything in the world seem far away. Standing out on the beach it was like they were the only two people in the world.

"I'm not going anywhere." Beth whispered softly against his lips. As she stood there, her toes curling into the sand as a wave of something that felt a lot like peace washed over her she realized that she had not been this content in a very long time. Somehow this man who had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember went from being her best friend to a lover and now her whole world was wrapped up in him. Something about that contentment cracked her heart wide open and with the crack came a flood of feelings pouring out of her, like a dam burst somewhere. She looked up at him, speechless suddenly and not a little afraid of the sudden onslaught of emotions flooding her senses.

Daryl saw the look pass across her features, his scared little doe, blue eyes gone wide. He put his finger over her lips, sensing that she was about to open her beautiful mouth and whatever she might say could ruin this tenable thread that they were balancing on. "Don't say anythin'. Just feel." He whispered as he brought his lips to hers again and kissed her like he meant it. Kissed her like he never had before. Kissed her with the full love in his heart. She relaxed against him and he pulled back to look at her. She nodded at him.

"Give us a chance, Beth. A real chance." He whispered.

She nodded again and smiled up at him softly. She didn't know what had just happened but something in the air shifted and something inside her heart shifted too. The world was off its axis and she was dizzy and giddy and she just didn't quite know what to do with all of it. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to it, letting her lips find his, the salt of the air mixing on their lips. As she kissed Daryl out on that beach, she knew that something had changed. She didn't know what. But she liked it. A lot.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I make no apologies for this chapter which was inspired greatly by the lovely fanart on my dash today. Thank you for reading.

Beth's squeal got drowned out by the sound of the waves crashing against the shore as Daryl lay on top of her where they had both collapsed in the sand. "That completely backfired." Daryl got out between heaving breaths. "You're faster than ya look." He had been chasing her through the waves when they both got knocked to the ground in a heap of arms and legs.

Beth couldn't stifle the giggle as she looked up at him, his hair dripping wet and hanging in his face and his forehead dotted with wet sand. "Yeah, well you're slower than you look." Her eyes flashed at him mischievously and she squealed with his responding finger digging in at her ribs, making her squirm. "That tickles! Daryl!" It was her turn to be breathless as he mercilessly tickled her, his body slotted over hers on the sand and their limbs all tangled as the waves continued to crash over the bottom half of their bodies.

"I'm slow huh?" He growled against her ear and he pulled back to look at her, Beth giggling and grinning like a maniac. He smiled down at her softly, brushing her hair back from her forehead.

"I was only teasin' babe." Beth got out between her fits of giggles but the way Daryl was looking at her right now was enough to stifle her laughter. His gaze swept over her and the both of them all tangled up and lying on the sand. They had gotten lucky. There were very few people out on the beach today and her uncle's beach house was far enough away that the closest person to them was at least 700 yards away. Too far away thank goodness to hear the wanton sigh that burst forth from Beth's lips as Daryl's mouth claimed the skin at the hollow of her neck.

She tasted salty and sweet at the same time and it was one hell of a heady combination. He wanted her, he realized. He wanted her right here and right now and the hell with whoever else was out on this beach. His fingers left their purchase on the sand beside her head and found their way to her hip. Daryl pulled back in annoyance at the trail of sand his fingers transferred to the expanse of skin just above the string of her bikini.

"Stupid sand is on everything." He grumbled.

"Why don't we go up and fix ourselves a drink and rinse off all the sand?" Beth suggested softly.

Daryl got up abruptly and Beth immediately missed the warmth and weight his body had been providing and gladly took his offered hand that pulled her up flush with his body, his breath warm on her face as he whispered. "I can't wait to strip that bathing suit off of you."

Beth flushed at his words and groaned as she pulled herself away. "Then let's get back and get this sand off. The sooner the better right?" Beth winked at him as she stepped out of his embrace and grabbed his hand, pulling him after her.

It didn't take long to walk up the beach to the house, especially with the sand burning their feet making their footsteps even hastier. Daryl couldn't help but watch Beth's ass as she walked ahead of him. He could feel his dick getting hard already even as they got to the downstairs shower.

Beth reached in and turned on the water, warming it up to a nice tepid spray and stepped into it, relishing the feeling of the clean water washing over her sand and sun-burned body, to say nothing of the fire trail Daryl's eyes had left in their wake. She didn't know what it was with that man and his panty-dropping stares but every time he looked at her she felt like she'd been scorched and all she needed was cooling down. She guessed it was always going to be like that with them and it puzzled her as much as it intrigued her, how in sync they were, how in sync their bodies were when they were together. And it wasn't just a few times that it was like that; it was like that, Every. Single. Time. And it took her breath away sometimes.

She turned her body back into the spray just as Daryl stepped into the shower beside her and he looked at her wordlessly as he put his hands to his waist and peeled his swimming trunks down over his hips and shucked them the rest of the way off. Her mouth went dry at his cock springing forth from the confines of his trunks, already rock hard. She reached for him at the precise moment he pulled the string on her bikini and it came untied falling to the floor with his boxers. She watched as his eyes went from their stormy blue to almost black as he took in her body from the waist down. Daryl looking at her in this way never failed to make her wet and she wasn't disappointed now as she felt the moisture gathering there and her clit began to throb in anticipation of his touch.

Beth wouldn't be able to remember later how quickly they washed the sand and grit from their bodies. Before she knew it they were laid out on the bed kissing slowly, languidly. Beth reached down and took his length into her hand, palming him bare-skinned and hearing him sucking the air in between his teeth as he gasped her name. "Beth."

"Shhh, I want to make it good for you." She whispered as she looked at him. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip so he didn't have to guess her meaning.

He reached down, closing his hand over the back of hers, stilling her movements. "What if we make it good for each other? At the same time."

Beth swallowed thickly at his suggestion. "You mean like 69?" Beth's face flushed at the words and her clit throbbed anew at the prospect of Daryl going down on her at the same time she was doing the same for him. They'd never done it before, which was kind of surprising given how healthy their sexual appetite was, no pun intended, Beth thought with a smirk.

Daryl nodded. "That's exactly what I'm suggestin'. What do ya think?"

Beth nodded at him and pressed her lips to his before pulling away. "I am thinkin' I like your dirty mind." She grinned at him wickedly and his response was a wolfish grin of his own.

She turned her body around so that she was facing away from him and knelt slightly over where his engorged cock was jutting up waiting for her lips. She took him into her hand and placed her hand at the base and settled her lips over the head, hearing him groan behind her as she licked around the tip, taking the pre-cum in her mouth.

Daryl watched as Beth turned away from him, her ass turned towards him, her lips exposed, pink, glistening and as she took him into her warm, wet mouth all he could think was how bad he wanted to taste her. He groaned as her lips closed over him and her hands squeezed the base of his cock, fingers lightly scraping over his balls.

He reached down and gripped her ass on either side pulling her towards him. Her lips left his cock momentarily as she positioned her body over his face, the smooth white skin of her thighs parting for his mouth to meet her heat. He flitted his tongue out, catching the first strands of her juices on his tongue, groaning at the tangy sweet taste that was Beth Greene.

Daryl moaning against her, the vibrations causing delicious sensations against her pussy had Beth groaning in response as she moved her mouth up and down over his cock. She could feel her body pulsing in time with her head bobbing up and down as Daryl's tongue sent delicious shiver after shiver up her spine. The way her nipples grazed against the sparse hairs on his abdomen was mind-blowing as well and she couldn't help the moans that slipped from her lips as his mouth worked his magic on her.

Daryl brought his hands up around her hips to grip her ass, spreading her apart even further as he plunged his tongue deep into her tight pussy, tongue-fucking her for a few thrusts and then pulling his tongue back out he flicked his tongue out over her clit, using the flat of his tongue to apply pressure to that hardened bundle of nerves that he knew would make her come apart. He felt her involuntarily grinding her pussy against his mouth as she moved her pretty lips over his cock.

Something about being in this position with Daryl felt forbidden and wrong and yet oh so right all at the same time. She couldn't quite keep her hips from moving in time with his mouth, her mouth and the rhythm was just so exquisite and all the sudden the pressure changed and Daryl sucked her clit into his mouth and his teeth grazed in just the right way and she was done. She continued bobbing her head up and down, taking the length of him down her throat as her orgasm spun itself out in waves.

As Daryl groaned against her, it was all he could do to keep from shooting his load all the way down her throat and then all at once, her grinding down onto him he sucked her clit into his mouth, sucking hard, letting his teeth graze the surface and he felt her then coming all over his mouth. Her muffled cries against his dick did nothing to stop his own orgasm and he was spiraling over the edge with her as Beth swallowed every single drop she had squeezed from his body with her beautiful mouth.

Beth collapsed beside him on the bed and they both panted, out of breath, in the afterglow of their late afternoon tryst. "That was amazing." Beth breathed looking down at Daryl at the other end of the bed.

Daryl nodded. "If I could move, I'd kiss you right now."

Beth chuckled as she crawled her way up his body, pressing kisses to his abdomen, chest and finally his lips. She could taste herself on him and it was a heady feeling. "I can taste myself." Beth whispered. "It's kinda sexy."

Daryl growled as he pulled her into his arms and pulled the covers over both of them. "Shhhh, I don't think I have enough energy for round two just yet." He warned her as she settled her head against his shoulder. Beth Greene admitting that she could taste herself and that she liked it? Just chalk that up to another thing about Beth he loved.

Beth giggled and then all was silent with the two of them. It was odd how what they had just done and what she had just said left them both speechless. It should have been just something sexy and something daring and yet it was so intimate what they had just done. So intimate that she couldn't remember doing that with anyone before, not since Brandon, the only guy she had ever really loved. Until now, she thought. She took a deep breath and snuck a glance up at Daryl.

 _"Give us a chance. A real chance."_ Those words came back to her now. It had been three days since he had uttered them. Three glorious, sex-filled, love-filled days and Beth didn't quite recognize who she was anymore. Not who she was with Daryl now. She had laughed more in the past few days than she had in a really long time. Beth realized in that moment what she had been missing out on all this time. It was Daryl Dixon. All of him. And she realized too that she had just, in the space of three days, given to him _all of her_. She had not held any parts back. Beth realized something else as she laid there with Daryl, her soul bared as naked as her body. For the first time in a really long time, she was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well go on, tell me what you thought? I have never written anything quite this explicit before. Well I've never written this particular scenario before so it made me anxious a little. Might even go hide!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up.......
> 
> Or.....Christy finally gets her act together and updates some stories. Enjoy!

It started out as a fun night. It was their last night at the beach and they had decided to stay in; again. She smiled to herself getting the pizza out of the oven thinking about how they had become virtual hermits since they had been here. She figured they'd be the only couple ever to come back from the beach with less color on their skin than when they had gotten there. The only thing their bodies had seen the past two days especially was each other mixed with the occasional dual shower or like last night when they'd had sex in the hot tub out on the deck. She blushed remembering how loud she had been when she had come. Daryl had sworn she'd probably roused the dead from their eternal slumber.

It was Friday night and they had decided to have their normal Friday Night Friend night and Daryl had joked and said they'd have to come up with something else since they weren't just friends anymore. Beth didn't know why it niggled her brain so much that he had said that. They were friends and they were trying out this relationship thing. For the most part, Beth had opened up to the idea but there was still something holding her back and she could not put a finger on it. The only time she didn't feel any trepidation at all about their relationship was when she was on top of him, riding out their passion together or when he was looking into her eyes as he slid himself inside her for the fourth time of the night. She felt connected to him in a way that was more than sexual though. It scared the hell out of her if she thought about it too long. That was to say nothing of the fact that she steered her brain clear of what happened in the future if he did want something more. Marriage and all that came with it.

"You comin' or not Greene, the movie will be out of date if we don't watch it soon." Daryl's voice came from the living room where he'd picked out a movie from her uncle's considerable collection. They had decided on Mr. and Mrs. Smith. She had seen it before and it was passable but not her favorite. She was feeling melancholy tonight for whatever reason. Maybe she was going to get her period soon.

She carried their plates in from the kitchen and smirked at the whiskey he had poured for them. "Sorry ta make you wait your highness. I thought it might be nice if we ate the pizza while it was hot." She grinned at him as she sat down next to him on the sofa, placing the plates on the coffee table in front of them.

She held out her hand and accepted the shot glass he offered, the amber liquid still sloshing around a bit. "Confession time Greene." Beth smiled at him.

"Is it your turn or mine?" Beth beamed at him, tucking her feet up under her on the sofa.

"It's yours." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Beth giggled. She didn't know in that moment why she had thought herself melancholy. Sitting here with Daryl now, she couldn't imagine being happier. She thought for a moment. "Okay but don't me mad." She winced as she looked at him. She had decided on her confession a few minutes ago. She didn't think he'd be totally pissed but it was a good confession and she'd kept this secret long enough."

"I won't be mad." He assured her.

"Yeah, you've said that before." She reminded him. He'd gotten mad at her a few times when she spilled something she had kept from him before, like the time she had lied and told him she didn't steal his pack of cigarettes when she was fourteen. She and Mary Jane Giles had and had smoked the whole thing between the two of them. Beth had thrown up for nearly an hour. When she'd finally confessed it all to him he'd been mad, but only because he had been worried about her.

"I promise I won't be mad." Daryl said. He didn't know why she worried about such things. He figured they were past all that now anyway.

"Okay. I confess I stole your truck that time it got the dent in it." She looked at him quickly tipping back the contents of her glass and poured herself another shot and downed it as well.

Daryl felt the color creep up in his cheeks for a moment. He had known it. That shit for brains move had her fingerprint all over it. "Dammit Beth, I knew it. I always did. Why?" He had to know why at the age of sixteen she'd felt the need to steal his truck on a random Tuesday night. He'd known the truck had to have gone missing after the dent appeared but there was a considerable amount of gas missing as well when he'd gotten up that morning. He'd asked her about it but she had feigned innocence. Damn her blonde hair and blue eyes for aiding her in that notion anyway.

Beth looked at him a little uncertainly. "I wanted to meet Jimmy. His Dad slept with his truck keys in the bed on account his brothers were always up to no good and we really wanted to see each other."

"In other words, you stole my truck so you two could fuck." Daryl looked at her, sitting there in his button up shirt, tied in a knot, tiny little shorts with her legs all folded up under her, looking no older than that girl who'd stolen away in the night to meet a boy. Here she was all grown up and he loved her. Loved her like he had never loved another human being. And he couldn't be mad at her. Not in any way that counted. "I ain't mad."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll pay for the damages to her. Soon as I get out of debt from my student loans that is." She gave him a crooked smile and he folded, opening his arms to her.

"I ain't gonna care now about the money. Thanks for tellin' me, Greene. But how'd you get the dent in her." Daryl looked sideways at her as she flushed. She looked so pretty all fired up red like she was.

"Hit the mailbox on the way back in." She giggled at the memory. She had been almost home free until she'd hit the stone mailbox at the top of the drive. It had just been a plain stake in the ground mailbox for years until the year previous when her Daddy had finally had it with the mailman knocking it down in the winter and had put up the stone enclosure one.

Daryl shook his head. "Damn women drivers." He couldn't hide the smirk as Beth playfully smacked him in the shoulder.

"Hey now." She warned him. "Okay, your turn Dixon."

Daryl thought for a moment, weighing his words carefully before looking at her, the light in her eyes drawing him in, like he couldn't be anywhere else even if he tried. "I confess I love ya, Beth Greene. I'm in love with ya so much it makes me feel all sorts of things and I don't ever want to be without ya. I wanna make ya mine. Marry me." It was a statement, not a question. He looked at her, letting the full weight of his words hang between them. What happened next surprised even Beth he guessed by the look on her face.

She hauled off and hit him in the arm, hard too, not one of those sissy girl punches she was always throwing at him. It didn't hurt him, not really, but he knew she meant it. "You can't do that, Daryl Dixon. You can't change the game right in the middle of everything."

Beth was fuming. How dare he do this. Everything was going great. They hadn't even declared real feelings not yet, not really. She couldn't even think straight. She didn't know what they'd said between all the things they didn't say. All the things in their glances.

"Ain't a game to me, Beth." Daryl's voice was low, but held no threat. Just quiet. Defeated almost. And that made her even madder and she smacked him again and then again.

Beth kept throwing punches at him until she was just pummeling his arm with her tiny fists and it made him laugh. And then that pissed her off more. "You can't fight me!" He drawled. "You fight like a squirrel!"

Daryl had seen Beth mad before but not like this. When he hurled that last insult at her, implying that she was weak, she just let her hands fall back to her sides, her fists clenched as she stood up and stared at him, the tears welling up in her eyes. He could tell how hard she was fighting to hold them back by the curl of her lip, the face she always made when she was trying not to bawl like a baby.

"You ruined everything." That was her last word before she stalked back to the bedroom. Daryl sat there for a long time, his head in his hands. He wondered what the hell he had just done in one thought and had himself convinced things would be okay in the next. But the thing was, it was making his head ache something awful thinking about it so he went for a walk on the beach to clear his head. It didn't work but when he got back, Beth was asleep, a pile of tissues around her on the bed. He quietly disposed of all of them and tiptoed to the bed, careful not to jostle the mattress. He knew she probably didn't want him in there but he didn't care. He needed to be close to her right now whether she liked it or not. He'd face her wrath in the morning. Lord knew, he'd dealt with angry Beth Greene on enough occasions to know that the morning after was often the worst. He threw his arm over his forehead and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts swirling in his brain. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

She woke up with a start and by Daryl stirring next to her she thought she had probably woken him up as well. The dream came back to her in spurts and then like a dam had burst, all at once and she dissolved into tears thinking about the life she almost had. Sobs wracked her body, thinking about what she had lost and how she had vowed that she would never feel that helpless again. It had hurt too much then. And it still hurt now. What the hell was she going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me! Imma hide now!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An add on to the last chapter because I think I left too much implied. Sorry to cause any untoward angst. lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I got so far away from writing updates and it had been a month since I updated this story and I didn't make things clear enough. So here is the mini chapter that hopefully clears things up a bit. More updates soon, probably Tuesday this week.

Then

_It had happened by accident. She hadn't meant for it to. She and Brandon had been so careful and he had been so explicit about his desires to never be a father and on this he didn't waver, not ever. So she hadn't told him when the stick showed two very faint pink lines on the first test. She had taken five more and the lines had gotten darker over the ensuing days._

_She had kept it from him for a few weeks and had pleaded that she had the flu when the morning sickness hit. School had been demanding and she didn't know how she would keep up especially with the overwhelming fatigue she was feeling. She started to plan ways to get away from him. The more her pregnancy progressed, the more she became attached to the tiny piece of her that grew inside her._

_It was three weeks later when she was just starting to show when he had come into the bathroom while she was undressing for the shower. She had seen the look in his eye and she'd placed her hand protectively over her belly. He'd flown into a blind rage, breaking everything in the bathroom, accusing her of trying to trap him, and Beth was pretty sure he'd broken her ribs too. She hadn't been surprised when the bleeding had started the next morning. Hadn't been surprised in the least when he'd brought her flowers the next night. She wept a river of tears for that baby she lost, for that tiny little piece of immortality, something that she knew would love her for her and nothing else._

Now

She cried her last tear the day she left Brandon and she had never looked back. Until now. Why her brain wanted to drag the most horrible time in her life into things now she could not for the life of her understand. She looked over at Daryl to see if he was sleeping and was met with his curiously worried gaze. They needed to talk. They did but she needed to think a lot more. But more than anything right now in that moment, she needed to be held. That's why she didn't hesitate to fall into his arms when he opened them beside her on the bed, the bed they had made love in mere hours ago.

There in the comfort of the arms of her lover, Beth wept again for that precious baby she lost, for the life that was snuffed out too soon. She cried too for her heart being ripped wide open and she wondered if it would ever not hurt. Lastly she cried for her and Daryl and wondered if things would ever be the same between them again.


	14. Chapter 14

She had finally stopped crying and he took that as a good thing. She was sitting quietly with her knees drawn up on the window seat looking out at the ocean.

He cleared his throat as he stood up from the bed. "I'm gonna take a shower." She just nodded in his direction as he spoke. He had never seen her like this. Except when it had to do with Brandon and he had to wonder if last night, what he had said, had sparked some kind of memory and some kind of post traumatic stress that her mind was not ready to deal with. He wasn't about to ask, but the thought that he could have caused her this pain was about to do him in. Every time she started crying last night, every single time had felt like someone ripping his heart from his chest. It was how he felt now. Just gutted. Over whatever was hurting her. Because if Beth hurt, he hurt. It was just the way it was now. The way it had always been if he was going to admit it.

He showered as quickly as he could and thought about how he could fix this but hell this seemed a lot bigger than him. Must be bigger than her too. Because Beth Greene always knew her way in a situation. She was the one with the answers when the chips were down. But now? All they were both left with was questions between the two of them. His heart fell to the floor when he walked out of the room and she wasn't in there.

There was only one other time she had ever been this despondent and that was when her mama died. He had tried to get there in time. He had tried. But she'd broken that mirror in her bathroom and taken that sliver of glass to her wrists. In the end, she'd decided she wanted to live. But he'd been pissed at her for a long time. How in the world she could have thought to leave him here without her. She was his best friend. After that she was quiet too.

His heart set to beating in his chest keeping time with his thoughts racing through his head. She wouldn't do that. He calmed his breathing. No, she wouldn't kill herself. But she'd leave his stupid ass. He dressed a little more slowly after that not quite wanting to find out if she had just up and left. Deserted him. Just like everyone else. He looked in the closet and was relieved to find her suitcase her belongings neatly packed. So unlike him.

She had to have gone for a walk. He debated on whether or not to follow her but decided against it. She needed space. He was going to give it to her. Even if it killed him.

* * *

Beth toed the sand at the water line, the water cool but refreshing on her tired feet. She had been walking awhile. It was an overcast day which suited her just fine. It matched the bleakness in her heart perfectly. The wind was blowing quite a bit today and she wrapped her arms around herself wishing she had brought a jacket. Or Daryl. He would make her warm. He could likely snap her out of this mood. But she had to tell him. She had to tell him all of it so he would understand.

The fact that she thought of Daryl as her source of immediate comfort started her for a minute and she looked out at the ocean again. Timeless as the tide, Daryl had been the constant in her life. He'd been there when her mama died. He'd been there when she'd cut her wrist. He'd been there for everything except for the horror that was Brandon and even that had been her own stubborn fault. For letting her jealousy over Jenna, to be truthful that's what it had been, get in her way of keeping Daryl in her life. If he had been there, she knew he would have put a stop to all the shit Brandon had put her through.

She paused for a moment, thinking that she might have never had gotten pregnant. It was a bittersweet moment having that thought. If she had never lost that baby, would she ever know how important something like that became to her? How she had identified herself with becoming a mother to that child? She knew the answer and all at once she couldn't wait to get back to Daryl. She had thought she had been afraid of being a mother. Of feeling that pain again. She had never wanted to feel that helpless again. To open herself to that kind of hurt. But what her real fear was and what she had not realized until now was her fear of being alone. Having that baby in some way made it so she'd never have to be alone again. There would always be someone there that would love her, need her. When she lost that baby, that precious piece of herself, she'd never felt more alone and she just walled herself off after that. Knowing that being alone was the only way for her.

But the thing was, it was too late to hold back that part of herself. She already loved Daryl. She was _in_ love with him and now that she knew this and could admit this to herself she felt free. Daryl wasn't just her present. He was her past and he was her future too. Suddenly she had to let him know that and hopefully it wasn't too late.

* * *

The longer he waited, the more he worried and the more he worried he began to fear he'd wear a hole on the deck pacing back and forth. He had found a pack of cigarettes in the refrigerator and he swore he'd replace whoever they belonged to but he was desperate. He had smoked half the pack and he wasn't sure if the knot in his gut was from nicotine overload or from worry about Beth's state of mind and how she was feeling about them. Finally he could stand it no longer and he turned to set off down the path to the beach to find her. He didn't know which direction she'd gone in but maybe he could figure it out. Tide was out so maybe she'd left footprints.

He made his way out to the beach and down to the water glancing in each direction. The path north was completely clear but the path to the south had more ruts in the sand above the water line where maybe someone had walked. It wasn't much but it was something. He began walking in that direction, fishing his lighter out of his pocket and then thinking twice when he realized there was no way he'd keep a smoke lit out here with the wind whipping about.

It wasn't too long before he started to make her out. There were dark clouds gathering behind her and the white halo of her hair whipping about her as she approached him made her seem like some Greek goddess warrior or one of those female superheroes in those new Marvel movies. Like a beautiful badass. His Beth.

He saw the minute she spotted him and he felt a damn of relief release deep inside him at the expression on her face that split into a wide grin and he thought they didn't need the sun in the sky that day. This angel coming towards him was emanating more brightness than they'd ever need, lighting up his world as she always did.

Beth couldn't believe it when she saw him coming. She had been gone awhile and she figured he had given up on her. She broke into a trot in an effort to get to him faster and then he did too and he was smiling at her so bright and she just knew it was going to be okay. Words weren't even needed as she finally reached him and he pulled her up into his arms, his muscled biceps wrapping firmly around her middle and pressing her to him as he swung her around. She wrapped her legs around his waist and didn't waste time as she sealed her lips over his.

Her kiss was demanding, heated and needy and he nearly drowned though they were technically still on dry land. He was pleasantly drunk on her touch as her arms came to wrap around his neck and she molded herself to him and then finally slid to the ground and tucked her head under his chin, that perfect place that he figured God himself had created just for Beth Greene.

She finally pulled back to look up at him and she couldn't help the tears that spilled over her eyelids. She ducked her head and instantly felt his finger under her chin tipping her face up to his.

"Look at me." His voice was gruff but pleading.

She gazed up at him. "I should have told you, Daryl. I should have told you about what happened with Brandon."

He looked at her and nodded. "I figured it had something to do with that prick." Seemed like almost every bit of bad that ever happened to her was because of him. If he ever saw him again, he'd probably beat the hell out of him just for breathing the same air.

They settled down on the beach up where it was a little drier and Beth sat cross-legged beside him. She reached over and grabbed his hand and he laced their fingers together, just like he knew she liked, resting their joined hands in her lap. Truth be told he liked it too. He felt like he belonged somewhere when she held his hand like that.

"It happened a couple months before I left him for good. I got pregnant." Her gaze held his and she saw the compassion in his eyes. This man understood pain better than anyone else, she knew.

Daryl nodded, urging her to continue. He didn't have to say anything. His eyes said it all.

"I hid it from him for a long time. Weeks and weeks. I had just started to show when he figured it all out." She paused, her voice beginning to shake with the memory. Remembering that moment of horror when the realization had clicked into place on his stupid face. How he had flown into a rage. God she hated him.

"That's when I left. I lost the baby." Her voice broke and the tears came again. Her shoulders shook as she let go of her grief for what seemed like the twentieth time that day.

Daryl literally seethed with anger. "That was when he beat the hell out of you wasn't it?" He didn't know it was possible to feel that much rage. She looked at him, those cornflower blues drowning in a sorrow that sucked him under like a weight pulling him down. And he broke. He couldn't take her feeling that kind of pain. This wasn't about him and what revenge he could have. This was about her and how she was hurting. He'd do anything in his power to stop that from happening. She fell into his arms and cried against him again. It was a mirror image of how he'd held her in the bedroom hours before except this time he knew why. He knew; and he hated Brandon for it. He hated the bastard for doing this to her and he hated himself for not being there to stop it from happening.

It took a while but she finally spent her tears and after the sniffling subsided a few minutes later she looked at him, eyes swollen, nose red and she had never looked more beautiful to him. "You're so fuckin' gorgeous." He said. He meant it.

Beth laughed. "You're crazy."

"About _you_ , you're damn right I am. I am so sorry that happened to you Beth." He knew he'd never get tired of looking at this girl. So beautiful and so mysterious. But she was to him just Beth. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers and sat back. He waited a pause before saying anything else. "So is that why my idiotic proposal freaked you out. Because of the baby?"

"It's hard to explain but yeah." Beth nodded. "I thought I needed to be alone so I wouldn't have to feel that kind of loss again. But then all this happened with us and I, Daryl, I don't know if I can ask you to not ever have kids. I don't know if I can ever go through that again, losing a baby. It was like losin' a piece of myself I can't ever get back."

"Is that what you thought? That I'd be givin' somethin' up?" He asked her and he could tell by her expression that he was right.

"Well yeah. I didn't want to ask you to give up anythin'. I don't want you to hate me later. It wouldn't be fair." She said and she took a deep breath.

Daryl's heart ached. Physically ached at her sincerity and knowing that she meant it. That she'd sacrifice her own happiness for his. No one had ever done that for him. No one had ever cared enough to.

"Beth when are you gonna get it that I love you. I don't need any of that other shit. You could want to have 10 babies or zero babies and it wouldn't matter to me as long as I got you in the end. You are all I need, baby girl."

Beth felt tears brimming behind her eyelids again but beyond that a joy swelled up in her like she hadn't had in. Well, she didn't think she had ever felt this happy before. "10 babies?" She laughed. "But you're all I need too. I don't want to say I'll never want kids again. I might. When it doesn't hurt so much. But I need _you_ Daryl. More than anything and I am so sorry that it took me this long to see it. I love you."

He looked at her for a long minute, speechless. She had been there all along. The love of his life and he had loved her for as long as he could remember and tried not to for probably even longer than that. A lifetime of holding back and now here it was and he could hardly believe his luck. Dixons just didn't have good luck. But being here with her he felt like the luckiest man alive and he'd be a bastard if he let any single moment of it go to waste. He reached out grasped her shoulders at the same time he scooted closer to her in the sand, leaning over and pressing his lips to hers. He flitted his tongue out, the flat of it teasing the seam of her lips open and she opened her mouth, giving him access and he his tongue laved at the corners of her mouth as his hands moved slowly down her arms on either side and back up over the forming gooseflesh and finally coming up to her neck and tangling in the hair at the nape, teasing the strands between his fingers as his tongue plundered her mouth.

He finally pulled away and looked at her breathless, panting, lips swollen and slightly parted and eyes most definitely dilated as fuck. "Do we get the make up sex like they do in all those movies ya like?"

Beth grinned at him impishly and wiggled her eyebrows. "You're damn right we do." She hopped up, her foot landing awkwardly in the sand and she winced. "Ouch!" Her ankle twisted again on her brisk movement to get up and he was at her side in an instant, his fingers gingerly touching her ankle.

"You okay?" He placed his fingers gently on her ankle and probed the joint. He gingerly wiggled it back and forth and she winced again. "You must have sprained it."

She nodded. "Let's go slow; it's a long walk back."

He offered his arm and she wrapped it around her shoulder to lean on his side, limping along so as not to put pressure on the tender joint. They were nearing the house when he finally stopped and leaned over and she stared at him.

"Stop looking at me like I grew horns and hop on." They'd get there a lot faster if he just gave her a piggyback ride.

Beth grinned at him and happily hoisted herself onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck being sure to give him enough room to breathe. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "My hero."

"Yeah, yeah, don't let that get around. I got a reputation and all that. Can't be ruining my bad boy image." Daryl grinned in spite of himself.

"You can be one of those heroes that fights crime like Batman. He was a bad boy I think." Beth said as he made their way up the beach.

They were both silent for a moment. "Ya know this ride would be so much more interestin' if you were carrying me on the front of you." She whispered in his ear as he made the turn to go up to the house.

"We'd never make it there if we did that." He laughed.

"I love you, Daryl." She said as he continued trudging his way, carrying her as if she wasn't a burden at all. That was how he made her feel. She wasn't a burden. She wasn't a liability. She was his equal in every way and it was like they were the yin and yang of the other, complementing, balancing.

"I love you too, Beth." He did. With all his heart, mind, soul and body. He'd be showing her just how much in just a few minutes. But it wasn't just about the sex. He'd come to know that. What they were now had started way back when. When she was just a little girl getting mad at him for treating her like a baby. When his mother had died and then hers. They'd been through so much together that it was hard to tell where Beth's path in life started and his ended. They all seemed to blend together.

How fitting was it then that as he glanced behind them, between the tracks she'd made on her way out and the ones he had made to come find her, there was now just one single set. His as he carried her piggyback style. He figured that was just as well. His life, his heart was as tangled up in Beth Greene as it could get and he couldn't be any happier. Not even if he tried. They were embarking on a new life together so it was just like a divine intervention that there was one path now.

They might have left on that walk down the beach separate, alone, and afraid for the future, but they had come back together, happy and hopeful for a new life. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is finally getting an ending! Please review and thanks for hanging in here.


	15. Chapter 15

Beth was awoken the following morning their last day there by a strange tickling sensation on her chin. They had already stolen two days more than they intended to be there. They had to be packed and ready to leave by noon. She stretched as she felt the tickling moving down to her neck. She opened her eyes slowly, greeted by the sight and smell of a morning glory, its velvety blooms tickling the end of her nose.  
  
"When you wake a girl up like that she can't help but smile." Beth murmured, her voice still hoarse from sleep and she struggled to move her body into a sitting position. It hadn't been that many hours since they had finally gone to sleep, opting for sex instead of slumber.  
  
"That was kinda the point." Daryl couldn't believe that he got to spend his mornings like this. He was tossing an idea around in his head but after a couple days ago he was afraid to broach the subject. He had gone out early that morning, itching for his bow and opting instead for wandering the beach seeing what he could find. He'd come back with two full conch shells and a handful of morning glories. He reached for the cup on the side table and handed it to her.  
  
"You do know the way to a girl's heart, Daryl Dixon." She tilted her face up and was not disappointed when he dipped his head to hers to claim a tender good morning kiss. She murmured her appreciation as she brought the cup to her lips, taking a tentative sip. "Mmm, this is good. Might have to make you come over every mornin' to make my coffee."  
  
Daryl cleared his throat. If there was ever an open for his idea this was it. "Yeah, about that. I was thinkin' and you don't have to, but I had an idea."  
  
Beth looked at him curiously as he sat next to her on the bed. She had seen this look in his eyes before. It was that look he always got when he was afraid he was going to be rejected. She sat her coffee cup back on the table and moved her hands to his, pulling them into her lap. "What is it? I promise I ain't gonna freak out this time."  
  
He looked at her warily at first but he saw the look of openness on her face. Having known her practically her whole life, he had gotten pretty good at reading her. It had gotten a little complicated lately but the longer he spent with her as a lover, the more he got good at reading that side of her too. Willing himself to hold her gaze, he spoke. "I was thinkin' maybe I could make your coffee every mornin'. We could move in together." The last part rushed out and he nearly swallowed his own tongue when he saw her grinning and nodding her head.  
  
"I think it's a great idea." She leaned forward slightly and met his lips in a soft kiss, pulling back slightly to look at him, her fingers tangling in his t-shirt.  
  
"You do?" Beth couldn't help but giggle at his expression.  
  
She nodded solemnly. "Yes. I was thinkin' yesterday about it and it just kinda makes sense."  
  
Daryl's arms were around her before he could think about what he was doing. He buried his face in her neck. She had not rejected his idea. Maybe his marriage proposal but not to live together. Words just seemed to fail him at the moment. She wanted to share his life. To Daryl, that meant something. To a person that had been rejected at every single turn of their life, abandoned by every single person that was supposed to care about him the most. And then there was Beth who loved him and said she wanted to live with him. He didn't think about it right then but he would later. He'd think about the fact that she was ready to hear whatever he had to say. Even if he'd been stupid enough to propose again, he somehow got the feeling she'd say yes. He shelved the thought for later, an idea already forming in his mind.  
  
He pulled back to look at her, not really knowing how to put into words what he was feeling. Beth nodded at him. "It's okay. I love you." That would have been all he needed to hear but she continued. "I want to be with you. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it."  
  
He moved one hand to the side of her face and pressed his palm against her cheek. She leaned into his touch and then turned and kissed the center of his palm. Then looking straight into his eyes she pressed another kiss to his wrist and continued this pattern all the way up his arm and back again until her lips hovered right over his. "We should get packed and ready to go." She breathed against his lips and his responding growl was enough to make her wet already.  
  
"It can wait." His voice was sharp, sure.  
  
"My uncle's gonna be comin' this afternoon. It would be embarassin' for him to get here early and walk in on us." Beth's voice was soft, breathy as he murmured his response against her skin, his lips a trail of fire up the smooth column of her neck.  
  
"I'll take my chances." He pulled away from her long enough to pull the covers away from her perfect body, revealing that she was wearing little more than a tiny tank top and an even tinier pair of panties. Good, it would take less time to get her naked and underneath him, he thought with a smirk.  
  
Beth didn't miss the look in his eyes. "What's that look for?" She was amused with this side of Daryl. Growing up he didn't really seem like he was the type to talk a girl out of her panties but it seemed he didn't even need much charm as she lifted her hips readily as he removed hers. He whipped his shirt over his head and pushed his shorts off his body and kicked them out of the way. He pulled the covers all the way off of her and maneuvered himself to lay beside her.  
  
He looked at her for a long moment before answering her, the pointer finger of one hand tracing a lazy curving line down her neck between her breasts and circling back up to run one finger over her already pebbled up nipple. "I gotta make love to my girl." She grinned in answer and he knew he'd said the right thing for once.  
  
He could feel her hardened nipples through the fabric and he slid his hand under her back and expertly unclasped her bra. She shrugged out of it and he took a moment to let his eyes drift over her, heavy lidded eyes, pink parted lips, the curve of her shoulder, pink pert nipples begging to be kissed, the dip of her belly button, her long legs that went on forever and the place he was touching now; her perfect narrow slit at the top of her thighs. He dipped his finger in her folds and she parted her thighs willingly. He traced his fingers up and down her pussy, tormenting her, never coming close enough to her clit and she bucked under his hand.  
  
"So wet for me, baby girl." He murmured as he moved his finger up to his mouth.  
  
Beth moaned in response and reached for him, his hard length pressed into her palm as his hips bucked into her touch. He was as ready for her as she was for him. He groaned in rhythm to her touch.  
  
She reached down and moved his hand aside. "I need you inside me."  
  
Daryl wasn't gonna argue with that. He watched as her tits bounced lightly as she climbed on top of him and lined them up perfectly. He moved his hips and that was all it took for him to slide his cock into her. They both moaned and Beth's braced her hands on his shoulders and he moved his to either hip. He swore every single time he slipped inside her it felt like the first time. Her walls were already starting to clench around him and he grit his teeth as she rode him like some goddamn porn star. Hell of being with Beth was you felt like you were defiling an angel, knowing all the while that the devil was coming to claim you with Beth's every breath, every moan, every touch. It was Heaven. It was Hell. It was everything he needed or wanted.  
  
She pulled back to look at him, her inner walls starting to flutter. "I love you." She whispered.  
  
Daryl didn't think in that moment what it was for her to say it just then. He just whispered back to her. "I love you." She leaned down and kissed him briefly. He reached up and pushed on her chest, placing one hand on each breast, kneading softly while he pushed her back. She finally took the hint and sat more upright, giving him access to her clit. He reached between them and found that hidden bundle of nerves. He pressed his thumb circling slowly and her movements became more erratic jerky as she started to lose herself. He used his other hand to hold her hip still and jerked his hips upward to meet her thrust for thrust as her head fell back and her mouth parted, a breathy sigh and then a moan slipping from her lips. Watching her come undone on top of him should have made him lose it as well but for whatever reason he wasn't done and that meant she wasn't done either. He flipped her over so she was on the bottom, so tiny beneath him. It was hard for him to reconcile in that moment that this was Beth Greene, his best friend under him and it was her that he was entering again and it was her that was moaning his name as he did so. It was like they weren't Beth and Daryl but they were two unknown forces that were bound by laws of gravity to be together. When he moved against her and her hips rocked against his, he had never felt more complete. The angle was just right for her and it wasn't long before she was hurtling over that edge again and he followed right after her, his strangled moan ending with her name on his lips.  
  
It was a long time before either of them spoke. It was as if something had merged between the two of them. Daryl thought as he looked at her that it was okay. It was all going to be okay. Because Beth was all he needed. And he knew now that he was all she needed too. What more could he want in the world than that? A surety of a future with the woman he loved more than life itself. Yeah, life was pretty much perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of this story will be up during Bethyl Smut Week 01/06/2016. ;) 
> 
> Please leave a comment below if you so desire. Until next time, xoxoxo


	16. Epilogue:  Worth the Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhmmm, the end? I hate chapter summaries, but you guys know this.  
> Love you all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY, the end this story needed. Hope you like!

_Five years later_

As Daryl traced his lips down the curve of Beth's ribs and over the flat plain of her belly, he thought on how much life had changed for them in the past five years. She'd graduated from med school top of her class (of course, she always was an over-achiever, his girl) and scored a residency at Duke. After that, they'd been lucky enough to be able to move back to Georgia and Beth opened a small practice in Senoia, across from the pharmacy.

Five years ago, he'd stood with her on a beach very uncertain about their future and now…well things couldn't be more perfect. Right after they'd gotten back from their trip, which in looking back now, he knew it was a major turning point in their relationship and he'd always be glad he insisted that they take that much needed mini vacation to the beach. After they'd gotten back, they'd moved in together as planned and after that, life had just happened fast for them. Until now.

In the last two months, things had slowed down quite a bit and right now he was enjoying the moment of solitude, just him and his wife, alone in their bedroom.

Yes. They'd taken the plunge a few months back and he'd never regretted it. The biggest part for him had been working up his nerve. Though he knew it wasn't likely she'd say no a second time. They had long since worked past all that and he knew then even as he knew now that her only reason for saying no at the time was her intense fears that were all tied up in the asshole that had very nearly ruined all the good that was Beth Greene. Then there was him. There was still a tiny something in him that didn't think he deserved all this. This perfect life with this beautiful woman, naked beneath him, pliant under his touch. Like there was nowhere in this world she would rather be than with him. And he knew it to be true. And that's what kept him grounded. That faith in her love for him; that faith in _them_ that that they worked so hard to find.

Now this cold winter night, he smiled as her fingers wove through his hair as he worked his way down her body, slowly, so slowly. Not so much to make her beg. Well, actually that was his intent exactly, he thought as his lips curled into a smile and he pressed his nose to her belly. She was writhing her hips impatiently as she often did when he was getting closer but not letting her have what she wanted right away.

The once gentle grip of her fingers in his hair turned rougher, her grasp stronger, as if to pull his head exactly where she wanted it, which was right between her thighs where she was warm and wet and waiting. He chuckled quietly as she impatiently thrust her hips upward, pulling his hair even more. It was slightly shorter now with his new job as senior foreman of the construction company he was now working for and as such she didn't have as much to grip as she once did.

He knew her well, Beth Greene, now Beth Dixon, he reminded himself. He knew the quiet sigh as his lips traveled south. He knew the stutter of her breath as he kissed the inside of one supple thigh and then the other, savoring the moment. He knew the quiver of her muscles as he gently pried her legs open, his eyes taking her in, pink and glistening with want. He knew the breathy moan that erupted from her throat as his tongue finally slid home, his fingers holding her folds open so his mouth could give her its proper attention. He knew the ramrod tension in her spine as his hands worked their way up under her ass and he pulled her fully into his face so he could bury himself in her. He knew the final laxity of her body as she gave him full control over her pleasure, trusting him to "get her there."

He didn't know if all women did this, but he knew _she_ did. Knew it all, like he knew the inside of his own palm, every line of her body, every curve, every dip, every nuanced sigh that came from her trembling lips as she shattered under his mouth and that warm oasis poured out of her, thighs trembling in his grasp, and he drank every last drop from her core.

He rested his head against the pale warm flesh of her inner thigh, contentedly watching the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she recovered from her orgasm, her breasts fuller, heavier now, her nipples pointy with barely quenched desire.

It had been a while.

"God that was good." She said softly, her voice husky and she looked down at him where he was positioned between her thighs, stroking her belly absently, tracing her curves. He didn't think he'd ever tire of this with her or at least he hoped he wouldn't. It was a hell of a place to be, in bed with his wife.

He smiled up at her. "Ain't done yet." He couldn't have kept the smirk from his face if he tried. She knew all his tells and always had.

Her bright blue eyes crinkled in the corners as she laughed that throaty laugh she had when she was particularly amused by something he'd said.

"Come here." She said softly and what was he do to but crawl his way up her body and comply. He placed one hand on each side of her head, regarding her, taking her in, hair mussed, cheeks flushed, legs still spread for him and he knew he had never loved her more than in that moment. He dipped his head down and slotted his lips over hers, letting her taste herself on his tongue.

She moaned against his mouth as he slid his tongue inside. He kissed her slowly, his movements exaggerated, languid, his tongue licking and teasing the inside of her mouth, sliding alongside her own tongue that matched his movements with practiced ease. They had always been good at this part.

He remembered the first time she'd kissed him. In her apartment. Back when they were just friends and when all of this was something that had never crossed his mind. Well, maybe this part, he thought wryly. But marriage, a house, a life. _A baby_. No he'd never dreamed any of that could ever be possible. And yet here he was.

As if on cue, the monitor beside the bed started flickering with sure signs that their son was awake down the hall. Daryl moved to get up. It was his turn to get up with him after all.

"It's ok, I'll go." Her hand on his arm stopped him as she reached for her robe at the end of the bed. It barely qualified as such and he still marveled that she could fit into tiny clothing after watching her belly expand over the months as she grew their child inside her womb. But it wasn't like that now. Her body had seemingly morphed straight back into the tiny little thing she had been before her hips had bore their firstborn, Owen Merle Dixon.

There were subtle differences, her hips were a bit fuller, breasts a tiny bit heavier from providing nourishment to the little guy. It was an odd thing, still being attracted to someone after watching her body go through that metamorphosis but hell if he could figure it out. She might be the mother of his child, but she was still smoking hot.

"Don't go to sleep. I'm not finished with you yet, either." She said saucily, her long blond hair sweeping over his arm as she got up from the bed. He shook his head at her and chuckled to himself as she turned around and winked at him and then swished her hips as she walked back out the door. Yeah, like he could really go to sleep with his cock still rock hard like it was.

Shifting his focus elsewhere (because fantasizing about Beth riding him wasn't going to get her back in the bedroom any faster anyway), he thought about when they'd first found out they were pregnant. She had been tearful, of course; terrified that she would lose the baby. Also it hadn't exactly happened at a convenient time; she had just opened her practice in town and as such, could not take a ton of time off from work.

As luck would have it, another doctor moved into town and agreed to take over her patient load while she was on maternity leave, but that was nearly over. She was to go back to work next week, though she'd curtailed her office hours for the first three months to make it easier. It would be a challenge, but they would handle it together.

He listened to the sounds coming across the monitor and smiled to himself. Whatever misgivings Beth had early on about the pregnancy, she was undeniably an amazing mother. And as for him, he'd adjusted to being a dad quite well. He'd been so busy taking care of a very sick mama-to-be in the beginning to worry about what he was supposed to do with a tiny human being and by the time he'd held his son in his arms for the first time, it seemed the most natural thing in the world. It's just what life with Beth had done to him. Making the most out of reach things reachable; like all the stars were within his grasp after all.

Predictably a few minutes passed and he heard her begin to softly sing. She must have had to nurse him back to sleep. All the books they'd read said not to do that, but "what harm can it do really?" she had said and he tended to agree. Then again, his wife was a smart woman; she was usually right. Also, he was smart enough to know not to argue with her, he thought with a wry grin.

"Hush-a-bye, Don't you cry,

Go to sleepy, little baby.

And when you wake,

You shall have a cake,

And all the pretty little ponies.

Paint and Bay,

Sorrel and gray,

All the pretty little ponies.

So hush-a-bye, Don't you cry,

Go to sleep, little baby."

 

She crooned to their son and he could hear the tiny coos coming across the monitor. "Say goodnight to Daddy, Owen." She said sweetly then with a tad bit of emotion in her words. "We love you, baby."

He could swear he could hear the smile in her voice and he couldn't help the curve of his lips as he whispered back, though he knew they couldn't hear him. "Love you both."

He could tell as her voice got quieter towards the end of the song, fading out to a mere whisper that Owen had gone back to sleep. He couldn't blame the little guy. His mama had the voice of an angel and Daryl knew she'd sung him to sleep many a night, her song a quiet melody in his ears and her breath warm on his neck.

He smiled as she reentered the room a couple minutes later, looking every bit worn out as she climbed back into bed with him. She curled into his side and laid her head on his chest, yawning as she did so. "I didn't think he was going to go back to sleep there for a minute." She looked up at him, the apology already in her eyes. She was whipped.

"Go on to sleep, baby girl." He wasn't going to be coming any time soon tonight but he knew just from looking at her, she was spent. And honestly, he didn't mind it one bit.

"You sure?" She whispered, but her eyes were already dropping closed. Soon after, she was snoring lightly.

He chuckled to himself and pulled the covers up over her sleeping form after watching her for a couple of minutes.

If someone would have told him ten years ago that he'd today be married to his best friend with a kid of his own, he wouldn't have believed them. Hell, he probably would have punched them in the face for even suggesting something like this with him and Beth.

Then again, it seemed like something that maybe was always meant to happen. Once they'd set down this road, there hadn't been any turning back. It might have taken her a little bit longer to meet him on that path but she got there eventually and the only thing Daryl could think as he drifted off to sleep, was she was worth the wait.

They might have started this thing out as a light romp between the sheets with no strings attached, but here they were, soulmates, and very much happily tethered to the other for a lifetime of love.

_Finis_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know a lot of you might be a little disappointed with the final chapter coming from only Daryl's point of view, and while this was their story, the culmination of their relationship was really his. So I thought it fitting that it come from his point of view only with subtle nods to how Beth is feeling about things. I hope you enjoyed this story and I am sorry that it took me so long to finish it but I just could not figure it out.
> 
> So I hope that you like the final chapter of Beth and Daryl figuring this out together and I so much appreciate you waiting as long as you did. Hope it was worth the wait (sorry, could not resist that pun). As always, please let me know how you liked this (or didn't). Until next time, xoxoxo
> 
> PS- Do not be at all surprised if I visit this universe again in the very near future for Bethyl AU week coming up. I can easily slip back into this verse, it turns out. Thanks again guys!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my new AU. It's kind of a play off of No Strings Attached (the movie) but Bethyl style. I just love that movie so much. Anyways, let me know what you think. thanks you guys for being so welcoming in this fandom and for reading all the drivel in my head and what's more, actually liking it and commenting and such. You guys are the best!


End file.
